Canadians are often mind-boggled when we near the middle of June and are informed that we’ve finally reached Tax Freedom Day. In other words, for the average citizen, the proportion of taxes they pay over what they earn annually is equivalent to nearly half the year.
Part and parcel of that, when we talk about the ogre known as the “taxman,” there isn’t just one. We feed that bottomless stomach on three different levels of government. That helps to explain why it takes half a year to get that particular bill behind us.
It goes without saying, we like to see a bit of a return on that “investment.”
We got a bit of good news on that front this week – or at least as good as it gets.
The federal government announced an injection of funding for municipalities across the country, the Investing in Canada Plan, that will mean $180 billion over 12 years. The share for Nova Scotia during the next 10 years will be $828 million. The intent is to provide the federal portion of funding toward infrastructure projects municipalities would like to undertake.
When it comes to return on the money we fork over, close to home is good, in that the upgrades are on roads, water utilities, sewers, community projects and services we see and use on a daily basis.
It will be up to local municipalities to set their own priorities, Central Nova MP Sean Fraser said Tuesday. But the agreement means municipalities with a population under 30,000 will be eligible for up to 50 per cent in federal funds on projects; for those under 5,000 the portion would be up to 60 per cent.
It’s not hard to find specific features in Nova Scotia that would benefit, an obvious upcoming project being the promised twinning of several sections of 100-series highways – locally, the stretch from Sutherlands River to Antigonish. There is also the push to make broadband internet service available to residents in rural areas. That latter is considered a necessity these days, and will be particularly essential to maintain residents and businesses in less populated areas – which is becoming more and more a concern in Nova Scotia.
Also, locally, in commenting on the funding arrangement, Premier Stephen McNeil said this would help with the coming, rather vast project of cleaning up Boat Harbour, which has served as the effluent treatment area for Northern Pulp for decades. More than a few have wondered where the money for that was coming from. This will at least chip some in – alongside the provincial government – toward the tab.
Considering the small size of many of the province’s municipalities and a modest tax base in many areas, this will make some difference in projects that, in a lot of cases, can’t be put off without sacrificing quality of life.
Between municipalities across the country and the federal taxman, various pitches have been made over the years to spread out the take – from GST, or a portion of tax on gas. For the municipalities, they need a better handle on what they can expect into the future.
This arrangement feeds the hunger for now, but let’s see a redistribution that’s fair and forecastable.
