Someone I know has a $250,000 house in Ottawa (one of the large cities in Canada which still reasonable priced houses) They pay taxes on a six month cycle. They pay just over $3,000 per year for property taxes which cover just the city services. School, hospital, etc. taxes are not included in that figure. The house would be comparable to a house one can buy in PG in the $180,000 range.

Whatever other challenges we may have in delivering quality services here, it is difficult to deliver comparable services to other communities with less money.

What do you expect for the national capital?

You never get your money's worth from Ottawa, and pay too much for what you do get.

Does Ottawa have mills and industrial areas to over-tax and subsidize the "average" home?

If you think PG City employees are getting fat, paid too much and bloated workforce, check out City of Ottawa's employees.

Can anybody say Audit? Then publish it for us to see,after all we are paying for it!

Actually that should have the opposite effect. The parkways and many parks, as well as attractions such as the Canal are paid for by the federal taxpayers, as are the various facilities such as National Arts Centre, Museums, etc. which provides the locals with better access to cultural recreation opportunities than in most places in Canada, other than those living in provincial capitals which receive similar benefits. It also provides automatic tourist attractions which help local services industries such as hotels, restaurants, car rentals, airport services, etc.

There is a major complaint locally about salary increases in the municipal government. If you take a close look at the actual salaries, they are playing catch-up with the western provinces. Look at the salary increases the MPs have just gotten.

The Ontario Government is telling cities to bail themselves out through raising local taxes and increasing user fee roads such the electronically controlled expressway in Toronto.

What do we have in common with Ottawa. Seems odd. Why are we not comparing taxes in our City to similar sized cities in this province like Naniamo or Kamloops. These two cities do not get the snowfall that we do but all else is about equal.

Then there is the fact that we also have almost a $200 million debet and there appears to be no end to the dream projects that City hall has. How does that stack up to other municipalities?

The simple fact is that city council is completely out of control.

Cheers

Bridge has it right. The City Council and staff have no respect for the Citizens of Prince George and tax the hell out of them at their leisure. They think that we are all stupid and basically can do whatever they please.

We have to prove them wrong at the next election.

It would be interesting to see the amount of tax increases since the Mayor was originally elected.