Nick Wihnan
Dear editor:
I feel compelled to write this open and public letter to town council regarding their intent to sanction higher user fees in 2010 plus pass a hefty tax increase upon the residents of Fort Frances.
I find I am in strong opposition to council’s action as this time for the following reasons:
1. Homeowners on fixed or low incomes simply cannot afford to be hit with these massive tax increases.
To impose these types of tax increases on those with limited and fixed incomes will cause many to either lose or sell their home, as well as force landlords to increase rental fees to tenants, who, in most cases, are living on and working for minimal wages.
Your actions will place financial burdens and hardships upon residents they ought not have to bear.
2. Our tax base has been eroding for the last 15 years.
The tax increases suggested by council for adoption will further erode and exacerbate any hope for recovery in the near and distant future.
Our major employer, AbitibiBowater, is in bankruptcy protection, and the possibility of major pension cuts, if enacted, will devastate personal incomes within our community.
Job cuts have taken the majority of middle-income salaries out of our community. These jobs are gone—they are not coming back.
Any new jobs are paying minimum wages and most are considered part-time, so those employees who work these part-time jobs cannot draw benefits, and are required to have second and third jobs to supplement their income.
I find it difficult to comprehend how these individuals can afford the tax increases proposed by council. In fact, I predict one of two things will happen: either they will leave Fort Frances or you will see a tax revolt on city hall.
Further complicating this problem is that we have an aging community, with an aging workforce. Future retirements leave no guarantee these jobs will be replaced, further reducing the economic base of Fort Frances.
3. Our high negative tax base creates a less-attractive market for future investment in our community.
As it stands now, our youth have migrated away from Fort Frances in great numbers. Why? It’s my opinion they lost faith in Fort Frances. They cannot find jobs that will provide them with a decent standard of living, nor can they afford to live here on minimum wage jobs while having their money sifted out of their pocket through taxation by governments they elect to protect them and put this community (and country) back on its feet.
Additionally, I ask what major employer, willing to pay a decent wage, would want to invest in Fort Frances knowing the tax burden that would be imposed upon them.
4. Living like we are a city, rather than the town we are, has to stop.
We cannot afford to drive this Cadillac any longer without taking a serious look at where we are and where we are going.
This gang of special interest, imposing its power on all citizens, must stop and place community interest at the forefront of our agenda.
5. User pay versus tax increases.
User pay is a non-describable way of saying you’re getting a tax increase because town council does not have the nerve to say taxes are going up 20-30 percent, or whatever the number is.
The bottom line is that under a user pay system, those who can least afford it are hurt the most. It is a regressive and unfair tax and does not address the real issues of the community (i.e., loss of jobs, dwindling tax base, youth migration, and all-round community services).
When asked if it’s fair when a person uses a service, like sending out three bags of garbage a week, that they should pay for it, my response is short. I don’t use the day care, the library, the museum, and the Memorial Sports Centre, and rarely use the fire hall, Public Works, or police. Should I not, then, under the user pay concept, receive a large refund on my municipal taxes?
If I use, I pay—and if I don’t use them, I get a refund?
Well, we all appreciate those community services, and I fully support them. I do not have a problem paying for them because that’s what makes us a community—and we are all the better for it.
So scrap the user pay system, it’s archaic and harmful to the community. If user fees are nothing more than a way to raise revenue, then raise taxes, not user fees.
6. Downloading of service costs by the provincial or federal government.
Town council ought not accept costs out of its control when these costs exceed very dramatically the cost or living or the financial viability of our community.
I would recommend that council contact the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and put up a collective effort to challenge the federal and provincial downloading being force upon municipalities.
In closing, I would like to recommend to Fort Frances council that they defer implementing any use fee or tax increases for 2010 and instead form a tax committee, made up of council and community stakeholders, to review all the events and circumstances that impact taxation in Fort Frances, look for cost-saving efficiencies, and create a new and affordable vision for our community.
One we can afford because, simply put, the status quo no longer works.
I send this letter without prejudice to council, who I very well know have a most difficult task at hand.
Best of luck in your endeavours, and I hope to hear from you respecting this request.
Yours truly,
Nick Wihnan
Fort Frances, Ont.
