By Cheryl Jahn

Employer Health Tax A Concern

Sep 24, 2018 | 3:56 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Mayor and Council recently made a presentation to the Select Committee on Finance and the most concerning issue was the pending Employer Health Tax.

The Committee was told the tax would add $700,000 a year in expenses and the City simply cannot “absorb” those costs, as the Finance Minister suggested municipalities could do.

“Absorb $700,000 into our budget?” asks Councillor Garth Frizzell, who made the presentation to the Committee alongside Mayor Lyn Hall. “That means what are we going to cut? Fixing sewer, water, roads? No. We simply can’t absorb that into the budget.”

What it means is an addition .69% increase to what property owners will pay in taxes. 

Speaking on behalf of the City, Frizzell requested that government make municipalities and regional district exempt from the EHT, much as they did for school districts.

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Frizzell says the City was not along is raising the concerns about he EHT to the Committee.

The Committee tours communities across BC to get a sense of the needs in preparation of the budget.