Petition targets City taxes
Pitt Meadows mayor wondered what services could be cut if taxes didn't go up next year
Norma and Tom Murray have been collecting names on a petition asking for a zero-per-cent increase in property taxes in 2013.
Photograph by: Maria Rantanen , TIMES
Pitt Meadows resident and former school trustee Tom Murray has collect 1,300 names on a petition asking for a zero per cent property tax increase for 2013.
Murray and his wife Norma have been collecting the names since this summer from property owners in Pitt Meadows.
Earlier this year, they sent a petition to City hall with 936 names on their
original petition asking for no increase in property taxes, but continued collecting the names.
Murray will be making a presentation to Pitt Meadows council on Nov. 6 to make his case.
"I would like to show [mayor and council] there are many, many people in Pitt Meadows who are very upset with rising costs in Pitt Meadows," Murray said.
When collecting names for the petition in front of IGA, Murray said only two or three people out of 50 would say they were happy with property taxes, and about six or seven out of 50 would just say they don't want to get involved.
But the vast majority were not happy with increasing property taxes.
What particularly irked Murray was that mayor and council and City staff have received increases in their salaries.
"That sort of hit us between the eyes," he said.
Pitt Meadows Mayor Deb Walters said she considers the petition a positive thing, showing that citizens are engaged, and she said she hoped they would come to participate in the business planning and budget process.
"These meetings are open to the public. Dates and times will be advertised and posted on our website," Walters said.
But Walters added that people who sign the petition should understand what impact the result could have.
"If you simply are asked, do you want [to] pay higher taxes or zero, of course people would say zero... but what is the impact? What are you willing to give up? What service may not be important to you may be very important to your neighbour," Walters said.
Even if the municipality had a zero per cent increase, there still would be other increases on the property tax bills of Pitt Meadows residents, Walters pointed out, including a three-per-cent legislated increase for TransLink, and a 2.5 per cent increase for Metro Vancouver, which provides water, sewer, solid waste, and regional parks.
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