Councilors get ready just like at the pumps people .... bend over here it comes again

My house went up 30% last year isn't that enough of a tax hike? Add to that the 4% road tax... anything more they might as well bring an gun and be honest about it.

I do not know how often it will take to explain this to people.

Put it simply, the above information is intended to show that the person who owns the same house this year as they did last year, and who has not done any improvements on the house that would have been taken into consideration by the assessor, will be paying 7.81% more taxes this year on average.

Not 30%, not 37% or some other figure.

If the city actually did not lower their mill rate, as is being recommended to council, then people would have been paying on average about 30% more since that is about the rate of increase in assessment throughout the city.

Math is not exactly everyone's forte. I wonder how many people in PG do not understand their tax bill and how it is derived. A sad state of affairs. Especially when one sees that some are quite highly educated.

BTW, the 4% is included in that 7.81%

I know my taxes didn't go up by 30%. But My house went up 30% so I now pay 7.81 % on 30% more tax. Bottomline this year I will pay more than I did last year. That is my definition of a tax hike.

I know my taxes didn't go up by 30%. But My house went up 30% so I now pay 7.81 % on 30% more tax. Bottomline this year I will pay more than I did last year. That is my definition of a tax hike.

Actually you will not. Yours is not the only house which went up by that much. Mine did as well as did most other people's in PG. If you paid $1,500 in CITY taxes last year you will be paying about $1,617 this year, not about $2,102 ......

If everyone were to pay such an increase the good news would be that we would pay down the debt within a few years ....

the bad enws would be that there would be riots at City Hall .....

so, I stick to the point I made, people simply do not understand the relationship between assessemtn increases, total taxes the city needs ot collect to match the busget, the setting of the mill rate for th differnt categories of properties and the actual tax which gets paid after all that is over .....

wait till your tax bill arrives in June or so ... then tell me what percentage your taxes went up over last year .....

or else go talk to an accountant friend and get a second opinion... :-)

Will there be a tax hike???? ... of course .... the question is how much ....

You want to move to a place where there might not be a tax increase??? try Alberta .... they get our dollars and those of the rest of us Canucks every time we gas up. Then they distribute it to the population for their bag of goodies ... the blue eyed sheiks .....

So council pumps the people ..... they would not have to if the people did nto pump City Hall ..... can't have it both ways.

want more police ... want better roads ... want more ice time for the kids or the seniors ... want water in your house ... want to be able to drink it without getting sick ... want trails .... want snow removed .... want .. want ... want ....

Owl. The bottom line is that our taxes will go up, and we probably will get nothing in return for the increase. To suggest that the City may use some of the money from a tax increase to pay down the debt is misleading. I suggest that all they do, and all they have ever done is pay back the money they borrow over a prescribed period of time at an agreed interest rate, and they never make any effort to actually **pay down the debt** Then they borrow more money for various projects that are **suspect** at best.

IE; New Police Station, Cameron St. Bridge, PAC, Co-Generating Plant etc;.

I have never heard this Council or any other in the not to distant past ever discuss the possibility of cutting costs, or decreasing taxes. Dont for one minute think this is not possible. This City spends more and wastes more money than any other of similiar size in BC.

We have state of the Art, Police Force, Fire Department, City Hall and Staff, City Equipment, and Vehicles, etc; There is never a dollar saved when it can be spent for **Nothing but the best** for good old Prince George. High wages, Salaries, and all the perks that go with it.

Problem is we cant pave our streets, look after the Poor or Elderly, fix up the decrepid downtown. What we have is a bunch of **High Rollers** spending taxpayers money as if it was their own. Actually if it was their own, the spending would stop immediatily.

Would you prefer dry, or lubricated ?

I'd be happy if they'd just fix the damn roads.

If there is a lower priority than fixing the roads in Prince George I dont know what it would be. Maybe painting the flag pole at City Hall.

Scrubbing out the cracks in the sidewalks with an old toothbrush ??

Camoflaging the snow dumps ??

"This City spends more and wastes more money than any other of similiar size in BC."

Easy to say things ... more difficult to back up the statement ...

go for it .. give me something to sink my teeth into compared to Kamloops, Nanaimo, Chilliwack .... similar sized communities ...

I agree with the road situation. I think they made a major mistake in not putting more money into fixing potholes. Whether last night or when they originally di the busget, I really do not care. They made a major mistake both times. They had a chance to undo it last night. They didn't!!

How long does it take the snow dumps to melt?

Sounds like a good basis for a contest or betting pool...

;-)

Longer than it took when they dumped all this salt infested snow into the South Fort George Slough so that it could run into the Fraser River and pollute.

I notice that they are getting the dust off the roads a lot faster than usual. I suspect that they want to keep pollution as low as possible so that they will not get to much flak when they go to build the Co-Generation Plant at the East end of 3rd Avenue. (Flood Plain)

I think that PACHA has got their attention and they are getting a little concerned that the free ride is just about over.