April 29, 2011- Halifax, NS – The Chamber has released its annual report card on the City budget which passed hurriedly on Thursday night. “After reviewing the budget we felt it deserved an overall grade of C, with its lowest score, D-, being awarded to Commercial Tax Competitiveness due to a total lack of progress on the competitive commercial tax regime for businesses in Halifax,” says Chamber President Valerie Payn. “Competitive commercial taxes are a key element of the city’s economic strategy and not only has there not been any movement to improve this situation with this budget there seems to be an active disregard to even considering what changes can be made.”  City Council formally disbanded its Tax reform Committee in June 2009.

The Chamber applauds the work of City staff to pay down the City’s debt and to maintain tight cost controls while still make the needed investments in infrastructure and services that make Halifax an attractive place to live. 

“The business community is the economic engine for the city and the region and their competitiveness, or lack thereof, is directly tied to the future prosperity of the city and of all it’s citizens,” says Payn.

“I think that people are under the impression that businesses, from the smallest home based operation to the largest corporate employers, do not pay their fair share of taxes when in reality they pay four times as much as a residential tax payer,” adds Payn. 

“Commercial taxes are just another cost of doing business and as such are passed on to consumers. Unfortunately, in order to stay competitive business must look to lower costs in order to lower consumer prices and if our municipal taxes are too high compared to other jurisdictions then we may get lower prices on the goods and services we consume but at the expense of fewer jobs, lower incomes, and lower revenues to government.”

The Chamber has been advocating for tax reform at the municipal level for years recognizing that commercial tax reform is they key to strengthening the competitiveness of our commercial sector through adopting a more equitable and more transparent tax structure.

“The total tax burden on businesses is far too high, and the commercial sector does not receive the same level of service as the residential sector does,” says Payn. “Commercial tax reform was completely ignored in this year’s budget, and we will continue to fight for it to be put back on the table as a priority area for Council.”

“If we want to be a business-friendly city, we need to show it,” adds Payn.

The Chamber’s annual Municipal budget Report Card reviews the budget through the lens of 5 categories outlined in its Annual Pre-Budget Submission: Spending Aligned with Strategic Priorities, Effective Investing and Spending, Debt Management, Commercial Tax Competitiveness, and Effective Governance. The Chamber will be reviewing in depth and releasing a full report on the Municipal Budget in dept in the coming weeks.

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For more information contact:

Janet Creamer
Director of Marketing and Communications
Halifax Chamber of Commerce
Office: (902) 481-1240
Cell: (902)499-6494
janet@halifaxchamber.com