Cornwall Councillor vows to not vote for a budget unless taxes are addressed

Nick Seebruch
Cornwall Councillor vows to not vote for a budget unless taxes are addressed
Mark MacDonald addresses reporters outside city hall Friday.

CORNWALL, Ontario – In an email to Council, Administration and the Media, Councillor Mark MacDonald announced his firm stand against property taxes in the City of Cornwall, going so far as to say that he will not be voting for a budget unless they are addressed.

“We need a long term financial plan that deals with this issue,” MacDonald wrote. “I will not be voting for a budget unless it includes a plan for addressing this major problem.”

MacDonald referred to a pledge signed by himself and 22 other Council Candidates in the last municipal election where they promised to roll-back the property tax.

The petition claimed that as of October 2014, residents in the City of Cornwall paid 28.5 percent more in property taxes than residents in South Glengarry and 35.5 percent more than residents of South Stormont.

Other current members of Council who signed the pledge include Denis Carr, Maurice Dupelle, David Murphy, Claude MacIntosh and Justin Towndale.

“I signed the attached pledge because I firmly believe the statement is true, our taxes are too high compared to the Counties,” MacDonald wrote. “We have to do everything in our power to “Roll Back” property taxes.”

Councillor MacDonald referred to the rising cost of municipal services.

“Our police and fire budgets now take close to 50 percent of our budget, up from 20 percent just a few years back,” the Councillor claimed.

The first meeting of the Budget Committee will be the evening of Monday, Oct. 17.

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