Editor:
Should we ask the question “are we among the most taxed people in the world?”
It would seem so. With federal and provincial income taxes, with the consumption taxes, GST, PST, gas tax, transit tax, property taxes and more, we are being drained by governments.
We cannot do much on the local level except perhaps with our now-exorbitant property taxes.
Does election to municipal office come with a blank cheque written on the property owners? Changing council may not do anything, but surely present council members should open their eyes to the tax burden they place on the predominantly fixed-income seniors of White Rock.
There is plenty of room for alternative revenue sources – just think a little outside the box.
Do we need more than a dozen walkways down the hill to Marine Drive when each sits on $3- $4-million view lots that could be sold? Can we afford to pay 25 per cent of our tax dollars for policing in a small town?
The Amherstburg, Ont. (same size) budget says its policing expense is 10.2 per cent of tax revenue.
Can’t we take the marina insurance money and build a small, revenue-generating, seasonal marina as recommended by an engineering study? Now that Marine Drive businesses are up and running, do they need our taxpayer financial support for the benefit of mostly non-resident owners, non-resident staff and mostly non resident customers? And of course the biggest question, is White Rock too small for the tax expenditures we have?
Remember the old joke from the government on taxation “how much did you earn, send it.”
It seems like the multi-government uncoordinated attack on taxpayers is headed this way.
Is it not now time, before the upcoming municipal election, to challenge the elected by us council members to do more than just control building heights?
Brian Tuomi, White Rock