City Hall Continues To Keep The Taxpayer and Some Councillors In the Dark
Monday, October 7, 2013 @ 3:45 AM
Two issues stand out in the disclosure of Councillor Cameron Stolz’s home being placed in the foreclosure list for failing to pay his taxes over the previous three years.
One; that Stolz didn’t feel it necessary to inform the Mayor, (which we can only assume he didn’t) of his financial situation when he was being appointed to the Finance and Audit Committee, a committee where he would then become Chairman,and
Two: the problem of keeping some councillors in the dark on matters dealing with city business.
In the first instance , Stolz was just two weeks away of having his tax situation declared "delinquent" for non payment of his 2010 taxes when he was first appointed to the Committee by Mayor Green. Respect for the office would have dictated that you inform the person who is appointing you, about your financial woes. After all, this is the Finance and Audit Committte, and Stolz had sat on Council long enough to know the significance of the position. Members of the Finance and Audit Committee make recommendations on operating and capital budget guidelines, general utility user fees, property tax rates and permissive tax exemptions. You are also involved in the bargaining for the city unions and conduct performance reviews for the city manager. All that, and you can’t be called upon to look after your own city taxes in a prudent manner?
Councillor Stolz might argue that his business has come through some trying times. In 2012 he received $ 20,911.81 taxable income from the city, a further $10,347.51 non taxable from the City of Prince George. Stolz also received $ 11,323.48 from the Regional District, along with a further $1,762.00 technology allowance. One third, or $3,774.49 of that amount was tax free. That totals $44,344.80 with a tax free portion of $12,744.00 . No bad for what is listed as a "part time” job.
Resigning from the position as Chairman of Finance and Audit does little. Stolz still would be able to vote as one of four on the committee, just as he had in the past, the only difference being that he does not chair the meeting.
Simply not good enough.
44 grand a year was plenty to ensure that the taxes were being met from this part time position. As to whether he should resign from council all together, I leave that up to better minds that mine, suffice to say , he does not have the confidence of the city taxpayers to sit on any committees, given his record.
Now on to the matter of secrecy around the council table. Both Councillor Brian Skakun and Councillor Frizzell found out that Stolz was delinquent in paying his property tax, and his plan to step down from the post as Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee, not from his fellow councillors or Mayor, no sir, that information came to them from reading the story on 250News.
These two councillors add up to 25% of the total council sitting around that table and they were voted in by the taxpayers of this city , they have a right to know, they are, in many cases our only connection with City Hall. To add insult to injury however, both Skakun and Frizzell say they did not know the Mayor and City Manager were heading off to China. Found out about that as well on 250 news. That speaks to a group that is trying to control what and who knows what’s going on at City Hall.
We elected 8 councillors to represent us, not a select group that someone at city hall decides is in the "in" crowd.
I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.
Comments
Seeing as this looks to be a tax avoidance scheme by councilor Stolz, since he seems to have a history of doing this and then paying up at the last minute, and the fiduciary duty he has to those who elected him, and those that appointed him… clearly he was in conflict of interest and therefor I would think he should be removed from council by elections BC.
If his house was underwater, and he was giving it to foreclosure to limit his losses, and he informed those who needed to know and stepped aside from the conflict of interest of sitting on the Finance and Audit Committee, then this wouldn’t even be an issue other than poor money management on his behalf perhaps.
By showing contempt for the system he represents he takes this to another level and one that warrants further investigation from those that watch over the integrity of the system. IMO he should have to step down as a city councilor for his evasive untrustworthy actions.
Stolz looks out for Stolz. Simple as that.
As far as the transparency of Council. Looking from the outside in is like looking through a kaleidoscope …… lots of bright pieces of glass …… no way to see beyond the screen of baubles.
Stolz, the mayor, and all of Council should be ashamed of themselves with the arrogance they display. I paint every single one with the same brush because every single one who is aware of that and does not like it has the ability to speak out.
No one does!!!!
Everyone is toeing the line of political correctness. Everyone is like Stolz … looking out for themselves!
THAT is the problem!
The BC auditor general of local government needs to educate this Council from a service quality standard and transparency point of view.
Conduct of Local Elected Officials (Local Government Leadership Academy Newly Elected Officials Seminar, Prince George, March 1, 2012)
This Council may have missed something on this day. LOL
“Stolz looks out for Stolz.”…..and he is not very good at that either.
With tonight’s meeting being the first since the story broke I guess we will see if anyone is willing to stand up and be counted.
To have at least two members of council find out about this from the media shows just how dysfunctional this group is and the complete and utter lack of leadership from the mayor’s office. Maybe they had the chutzpah to question one of her decisions and are now getting the silent treatment like 250News.
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I have not seen anything that says his house is in foreclosure or under water only that his tax account was not current. If he had a CMHC insured mortgage and the rules have not changed since we had one, he must have 25% equity in his house or taxes would be part of his monthly payment.
Well this situation surely needs some clarification, however because its about the personal business of a Councilor I suspect that we probably have all the information that we are going to get.
In any event, I think we need to reflect on this point.
What makes us think that if a Councilor, or any other person is delinquent in paying their taxes that this somehow reflects on their ability to do a job????
Keep in mind that paying your taxes late along with the attendant penalties, is legal, and is something that has been done by people for years. Why shouldn’t a Councilor who (may be in some financial difficulties) be able to use the same system that is available for other taxpayers???
To suggest that not paying your taxes on time somehow puts you in a **conflict of interest** somehow eludes me. Especially when the Councilor in question has voted in favour of every tax increase, utility and service increase for the past years, and has advocated bringing is systems such and garbage, and parking that would cost us more money. He certainly would not benefit from any of the legislation that he was involved in,.
Perhaps someone could explain to me how we can jump from **late payment of taxes** to conflict.
If a pilot does not pay his taxes is he no longer able to fly. Or a surgeon, no longer able to operate. I fail to see the connection between personal debt and the ability to do a job.
I agree that because he is the Chair of the finance committee, that one would expect financial responsibility, however without knowing what has personal financial situation is, I could not make a judgement on this situation. Sometimes people have financial difficulties, and need to use everything available to them to get out of the situation.
So unless you can somehow make a connection between late payment of taxes (which under our present system is allowed) then I fail to see a conflict. Just a somewhat embarrassing situation for the Councilor.
Have a nice day.
I agree with your point of view as far as the legality of the situation goes. There are rules about payment of taxes, penalties for not paying on time, penalties for accumulating too many, etc.
In fact, one could say that the “normal” way of handling tax delinquencies which are excessive appears to be a bit draconian, I would say that the City should be placing a lien on the property when the delinquent amount exceeds a specific figure.
Perhaps we should take the point of view that the people should stay out of the bedrooms of the Councllors as well as out of their finances.
Then again, is this actually costing us money? Are the delinquent taxes significant enough that our tax increases have to account for those who fail to pay on time?
When all city financial concerns are dealt with, we are still left with the ethical issue and the matter of perception.
People have been asked to step down and have stepped down on their own for less.
Good posts Palopu and gus. I am wondering the same things. Stolz has already stated that he’s had some challenges in his own business the past few years, and many are in the same position he is/was.
As long as he pays all of the penalties assessed, I don’t think there any more to the story than that.
I wouldn’t be surprised if with the penalties and the interest for non-payment that the Councilor is actually paying more, no less in taxes.
If the pilot or surgeon sat on the board of directors of the airline or hospital and they were indebted to that institution it could have some bearing on the decisions they made.
To say that he voted to increase taxes and fees is a moot point, perhaps this was to compensate for people who have not paid their taxes and he wanted to be sure the city had enough money to cover their obligations (including his salary;)
As gus said it is a matter of perception: as with any conflict of interest, a perceived conflict can be just as bad as one that is cut and dry.
IMO the right thing to do is to step aside from any committees and let the voters decide next year if he should continue as a councillor or even mayor.
To each his own lonesome sparrow. As far as the voters deciding, lots of luck with that, only a third of them vote, and a large majority of them are not aware of this situation, or its implications.
If the Councilor has problems getting re-elected next year (assuming he runs) it will be based more on his fixation with raising taxes, and service costs, and not reducing spending.
This little issue of being behind on taxes will (in my opinion) not be a deciding factor.
Disgusting that Ms. Green has an “in” group and that two of the councillors didn’t know she was going to China. If a member of council is going on this trip with her, then all council members have a right to know about the trip, as well as a chance to go with her.
Not informing all the council members of the goings-on is infantile behaviour. Maybe someone wishes she was still in high school where she could get away with that kind of behaviour.
I agree with Eagleone on this point “Seeing as this looks to be a tax avoidance scheme by councilor Stolz, since he seems to have a history of doing this and then paying up at the last minute, and the fiduciary duty he has to those who elected him, and those that appointed him… clearly he was in conflict of interest and therefor I would think he should be removed from council by elections BC.” IMHO he also had a responsibility out of (courtesy and respect) to inform his council colleagues about his conscious decision not to pay his property taxes on time in 2010 in 2011 and again in 2012. It was not until it became public knowledge that he fessed up. The big question I have is “Would Mayor Green and the rest of council have supported Stolz’s bid for the position of chair of the finance and audit committee if they had known about his decision not to pay his property taxes? Stolz should not be allowed to stay on the F $ A committee. Somehow I highly doubt they would have endorsed him for this position and if the public was aware would they have voted for him? I would not have.
It appears Frizzell and Skakun could be the only 2 councillors re-elected. Distancing yourself from the Mayor or as in this case not being included in her inner circle sounds like a good thing. She’s going down….who will she take with her?
Wait a minute, wait a minute. Something just did not sit right.
Where did 250 get their information? Was it from the city website on the agenda for Monday? If it was in there about Green going to China and it was in there last week because I read it!
Question is why the dickens does it take the council so long to find out what is on the agenda? Do they ALL wait until the day of the council meeting?
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