New Brunswick’s eight cities say they want to be able to generate extra revenue through areas like renewable energy generation or professional service training.
It is one of the changes the Cities of New Brunswick Association wants all provincial political parties to review.
Moncton Deputy Mayor Greg Turner said the current Local Governance Act means they are really only able to generate increased revenue for services by raising taxes.
“The cities are not looking to be able to compete with the private sector,” Turner said, “but rather explore new revenue stream opportunities that aren’t forcing our citizens to always pay more.”
#Moncton Deputy Mayor Greg Turner says cities should have the ability to generate new types of revenue that are not taxpayer dependent. Says the province should remove the “for profit” restrictions with the new Local Governance Act.
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) August 28, 2018
The cities also want the ability to introduce mandatory hotel levies.
Dieppe Mayor Yvon Lapierre said New Brunswick is at a disadvantage because most cities across North America already allow hotel levies.
“That’s another way for our cities, if this levy was permitted, to generate key revenue and to put back into our local economies,” Lapierre said, “specifically when it comes to attractions, local tourist attractions, and local businesses.”
#Dieppe Mayor Yvon Lapierre now talking about the ability to implement a hotel level for the tourism industry. He says most cities in North America already have something similar.
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) August 28, 2018
With cannabis legalization just around the corner, New Brunswick cities also want the province to give municipalities 44 per cent of the excise tax revenues transferred to them from Ottawa.
Fredericton Mayor Mike O’Brien said other provinces have already agreed to give revenue to municipalities.
“New Brunswick cities will have the new responsibilities in areas like public safety and municipal administration,” O’Brien said. “In fact, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities has calculated that the annual cost for our eight cities will be in excess of $2.5 million per year.”
The association is recommending 44% of the excise tax revenues transferred from Ottawa to the provinces be redistributed to all municipalities.
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) August 28, 2018
The association is also proposing three other ideas they say will strengthen the province and its cities.
