Residents Of Municipalities Feeling Crunch After NDP HST Hike: Younger
Halifax, NS) Liberal municipal relations critic Andrew Younger says the NDP government’s decision to increase the HST has put even more financial strain on Nova Scotia’s municipalities and in turn, will translate into higher property taxes for businesses and residents.“The Halifax Regional Municipality has stated it is taking a hit of close to $2 million due to the NDP tax hike,” states Younger. “We can already see in the HRM budget that property taxes will be raised in part to compensate for this shortfall. Once again, the middle class and the working poor will be forced to pay dearly for the NDP’s broken promise.”
Younger says it’s estimated that Cape Breton Regional Municipality will take a hit of about $1.6 million on their budget this year as a result of this NDP tax increase.
Even small municipalities, towns, and villages are facing an average gap of $25,000.
“That might not seem like a lot of money for somewhere like HRM or even CBRM, but in many of these small towns that may mean the difference between survival or not,” states Younger.
Younger, the MLA for Dartmouth East, raised the issue of the HST increase and its negative impact on municipalities during Question Period of the spring legislative session. The Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations, Ramona Jennex, brushed off the Liberal member’s concerns, calling it “speculation”.
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