Councillor Findlay expresses concern over the tax rate and suggests anything he can think of to give residents a break.
Meanwhile, councillor Istace wants to approve the tax hike but also expresses his financial hardship and shuts down the motion regarding council wage increases.
It seems he’s alright with increasing your taxes as long as he still gets paid a living wage.
We commend Councillor Findlay for highlighting the ‘It’s Just’ technique that we’ve seen more of in the past few years. Some changes are only 1-3% increases, and admittedly that’s not much. However when we have nearly a dozen of those, those little changes add up.
We also question Councillor Istace and his viewpoint on the increase. He spent time educating the public on his own hardships balancing his new role on the council and running his business. The margins are so tight that less than $200 per month could cause him significant hardships. Despite recognizing this, he still expressed his desire to increase taxes on homeowners.