CORNWALL, Ontario – City council tried to pour cold water Monday night on a heated debate concerning the amount of taxes people pay in Cornwall versus neighbouring rural municipalities.
City councillors got an earful regarding Cornwall’s financial picture, and both council and the auditors waded into the debate concerning the amount of taxes residents here pay, versus residents in places like South Glengarry and South Stormont.
Taxpayers pay less in those rural communities, as much as 30 per cent in some areas, but auditor Ross Markell suggested making comparisons between local municipalities is an apples and oranges argument.
“You can only provide a simplistic comparison. There’s too many variables,” he said, pointing to things like assessment and market values that drive up (or down) the cost of properties and taxes, not to mention services provided. “For anybody to analyze it down…is very difficult because someone can always come the other way and say you haven’t brought this in, or brought that in.”
But council still hears the argument.
“People always come in and say it is much lower (in the counties),” said Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy.
Auditor Jamie Pollock pointed out that residents in South Stormont and South Glengarry also have to pay an upper-tier tax bill to the United Counties, in addition to the bills sent out by the lower tiers.
Markell suggested more competent comparisons can be made between Cornwall and a city like Belleville, which has a similar population.
Cornwall, he said, collected about $59 million in taxes in 2013, while Belleville hauled in a whopping $77.5 million. He pointed to Belleville’s assessment total, which is a staggering $4.3 billion, while in Cornwall the number is closer to $2.6 billion.
The smaller amount of taxes collected can be a double-edged sword, though, said Markell.
“You just don’t have the horses to bill for a bunch of things you’d like to do,” he said. “We all know every municipality has issues with aging infrastructure and all that. You’re still in a good financial position. But the other municipalities are starting to catch up to you. Or you’re catching down.”
