SEARCH NEWS
ECONOMY: Business groups “disappointed” with minister for not rejecting tax recommendations

            (AlbertaIndex, July 18, Wednesday) --- Business groups have criticized the Alberta government’s refusal to outright reject a key recommendation by a ministerial council to let municipalities impose four new sales taxes in their communities. The unpopular new fees could be imposed on vehicle registration, tourism, sports tickets and home sales.

            The Alberta Chambers of Commerce (ACC) and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business both said they are “disappointed” that Municipal Affairs Minister Ray Danyluk for not throwing out the tax recommendations by his Council on Municipal Sustainability.
           
The council’s recommendations were put forth in March in a report co-written by the mayors of Calgary and Edomonton, and the heads of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association and the rural Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties.
            “Giving municipalities more taxing authority only serves to create uncertainty in local economies while letting the province off the hook to properly fund local governments,” said Ken Kobly, CEO of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce.
            He said the provincial government needs to reallocate existing revenues to municipalities and provide them with predictable and sustainable levels of funding. This point was noted in the research report, “Vision 2020: Population and Fiscal Stresses in Alberta Municipalities” which the chambers jointly produced with the Certified General Accountants Association of Alberta.
            “It does not need to create new taxes for municipalities,” said Kobly.
            The ACC also expressed concern that the Council didn’t see a need to realign municipal and provincial roles and responsibilities.
            “Our Vision 2020 project underlined the need to review roles and responsibilities as a means of reducing the financial burden on municipalities, which are still feeling the weight of the significant service downloading that occurred in the mid-1990s,” said Kobly.
            The ACC wants Premier Ed Stelmach to “continue” on his path towards ensuring municipalities have sufficient financial resources to provide the services their residents expect and deserve.
            “But he needs to ensure the means to this end does not involve burdening and destabilizing local businesses with unjustified new sales taxes,” it said.

Did you enjoy this article? Please share it!
Reddit!Del.icio.us!Google!Netscape!StumbleUpon!Newsvine!Furl!Yahoo!