Tax talk sounding different during this municipal election campaign under spectre of inflation

How much cities and towns across northeastern Ontario collect in taxes is once again a top issue in this municipal election campaign.

But now inflation is making the financial picture even grimmer for municipalities and prompting some to call for big changes.

"Most people are saying it's becoming unaffordable," said Chuck Durrant, one of four candidates running to be the next mayor of Temiskaming Shores. 

"They're afraid to make improvements to their homes or to their businesses, just because when they do that, it ultimately raises their tax bill," he said.

The local businessman says his solution is to attract more industry to Temiskaming Shores, and try to work with developers to build new housing to capture the growing number of people interested in moving to smaller Ontario cities in recent years.

Bruce Newton, who is seeking re-election as a town councillor in Kapuskasing, sees the financial crunch as more urgent.

"We can do two or three streets, but we should be doing four or five streets," he said.

"We have some streets that have to be done right away and we're trying to make up a priorities list and that's a costly venture."

Newton, one of 11 candidates running for six council seats, says he and his colleagues have worked hard to hold tax hikes at three per cent in recent years when it could easily be double that. 

But he worries with the cost of groceries, gasoline and everything else going up, that even a modest tax hike could force seniors out of their homes. 

"And there is no other place for the seniors to live, except for their homes and that is probably the cheapest place for them to live," said Newton, noting that rent in Kapuskasing has bumped up a few hundred dollars per month this year.

Peter Politis, a former mayor of Cochrane running to get his old job back in this election, says one of the "biggest misnomer" in municipal politics is candidates who promise to "hold the line" on taxes.

He says fixed costs like employee salaries mean a tax freeze is actually a tax decrease, not to mention the $69 million backlog of infrastructure repairs the small town is trying to work through. 

"As long as you can ensure them that money isn't being wasted," said Politis, who is in a re-match in this election against incumbent mayor Denis Clement, who ousted him by five votes in 2018. 

"And when you get the questions about why is money going here, why is it going there, you really need to be prepared to answer those and answer them forthright."

Peter Chirico oversaw North Bay's municipal spending for years as a city councillor and budget chief and is now running for mayor, but says he'd be foolish to start making specific promises on the tax rate. 

"We've got to get in there, we've got to take a look at what that budget is and we've got to make sure that we're spending is on the right things at the appropriate times," he said.

In this campaign, Chirico has also had to address his role in one of North Bay's biggest spending scandals in recent years.

He was a city manager overseeing the renovations to the Memorial Gardens in 2013, which went $4 million over budget, and saw his employment end suddenly.

"Do I agree with what happened at that point in time? No," said Chirico.

"There were mistakes made all around on that project. It was a project that was doomed for the start. But I didn't sign a cheque and I ask the voters to consider that as well."

Chirico is one of several candidates in this municipal election mentioning their connections with upper levels of government and their lobbying prowess as a reason to vote for them.

Enid Slack, director of the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance at the University of Toronto, says it's a sign of how dependant on provincial and federal funding cities and towns have become.

She says municipalities face a tough four years financially with inflation making it more expensive to run the city, while at the same time squeezing the household budgets of the citizens they collect property tax from. 

"Property tax is a hard tax to raise. Because it's a very visible tax," said Slack, pointing out that comparatively few know how much they pay every year in income or sales tax. 

She says municipalities are being forced to put off infrastructure projects, look at creative ways to save money while delivering essential services and try to make manageable increases to property taxes and user fees.

"But all of that may not be enough. We may need the provincial and federal governments to come in and help," Slack said. 

Slack says it may also be time for a larger conversation about whether some of the tax dollars that go to Queen's Park or Parliament Hill should be re-routed to city and town halls.