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Letter: New West life is 'near death by a thousand taxes'

Editor: Re: New West residents give an earful on 2019 budget , Record , March 13 I would like to be “helpful” and offer thoughts on the budget process as described in the March 14 article on the city budget meeting.
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Editor:

Re: New West residents give an earful on 2019 budget, Record, March 13

I would like to be “helpful” and offer thoughts on the budget process as described in the March 14 article on the city budget meeting.  

A councillor suggested that after this year’s budget process, the council will direct staff to find out why more people did not provide input to the budget. 

I can help staff get started on this. 

When you (don’t) give the residents of New Westminster (much time) to respond, you will not get much response. Whether this time frame was driven by the desire to reduce the input from residents, or the timeline of the provincial government as outlined in the article, the result is the same – limited involvement and input from residents. 

When people are working up to three jobs to meet their own or family needs, it does cut down on their ability to respond quickly to things that are not immediately going to affect your paycheque.

At the meeting, some residents talked about the effect of tax increases on them. While this may be difficult for some councillors to hear, imagine how difficult it is to live on low wages and incomes/pensions that don’t keep up to the cost of living. 

Imagine that you must decide whether it will be food or clean socks (laundromats are expensive). Imagine worrying about having bus fare to the doctor’s appointmentor having to tell your child they can’t have a sticky bun or an ice cream. Imagine worrying almost every hour of every day about whether you will get sick from worrying or that some other crisis will tip your delicate balance.

I would also like to square the issue regarding people supporting the increased cost of the Canada Games Pool and people reporting on the effects of increased taxes to them. 

Developers have been building highrises for some time now. Most people understand that this will result in more people living here. The recreational sites are currently inadequate and the addition of more people will increase the pressure on the existing facilities. 

If we are building, it makes sense to build for the future. In addition, building a larger facility will enable the city to generate funds by hosting high-level competitive events and attracting athletes and their families to New Westminster. 

The generated funds can be used to sustain the Canada Games Pool as well as other city recreational facilities and this makes good economic sense. 

Finally, you can describe the current situation as “near death by a thousand taxes.”   

The municipal tax rate will increase by 5.28 per cent and there will be additional increases in water/sewer and electricity. 

Most of us know that these are not the only taxes/increases we will pay. 

Employers have been hit with the payroll tax which will effect salary increases to employees, especially those working for small business operators. 

There have been increases to many user fees, including large increases by ICBC. 

There have been increases in personal income taxes, gas taxes, taxes on rental properties and there will be a carbon tax increase in April. In addition, paying your taxes may guarantee you nothing, so many people who are renting today live in fear of being evicted for renovations or some other reason.

All of this to say, the municipal tax increase is not the only tax we are faced with but is one of many increases to a person’s cost of living.

Lynda Fletcher- Gordon, New Westminster