Reforming property tax is big job. Give it the time it takes to do it well.

Local Government Minister Aaron Kennedy is wise to refuse to commit to a one-year deadline to complete property tax reforms.
 
On Tuesday, the government of Premier Susan Holt tabled a bill in the Legislature to freeze most property assessments for at least one year. In its successful election campaign last year, the government promised to deliver on property tax reforms.
 
The government described the measure to cut costs for households and businesses.

Kennedy is the man who defeated Premier Blaine Higgs in his Quispamsis riding in the 1924 election. Higgs was known for his “one size fits all” approach to reforms, especially municipal reform. This resulted in wholesale amalgamations and service consolidations which have brought chaos. Those changes were done with precious-little consultation with the public.
 
in one local example, fire departments, both municipal and rural, volunteer, in the St. Stephen area, were scrunched together with no plan or clear lines of authority. Firefighters who had donated their time selflessly to dangerous work, sometimes over many years, were rightfully unhappy.
 
As far as rural/municipal taxation, too many rural property owners have been waiting for the ‘other shoe to drop’ in property tax increases, as they were caught up in amalgamations done without consultation.
 
Taxation and assessment are a complex part of public policy. A very thorough reform in this area was done in the 1960’s by the Liberal government of Louis Robichaud. Called Equal Opportunity (EO), the program was designed to overcome huge discrepancies in service delivery and taxation in different regions in the province. For instance, the southern county of Saint John was spending $312 annually per student on education, while Gloucester County, the province’s poorest was spending just $144 per student.

Such discrepancies were brought to light in the famous Byrne report, done by lawyer Edward Byrne. His voluminous and meticulous report was tabled in the legislature in 1963.
 
Premier Robichaud saw that the political implications were significant and that reforms would have to be done gradually. Indeed, there was intense controversy in the province, and going ahead took political courage.
 
We won’t go into details here, but the result was political success for the government, with election victories in 1963 and 1967. By 1967 the main points of the EO implementation were largely complete. The reforms were in place for the 1970 election, when the government changed, but the new Progressive Conservative Premier, Richard Hatfield, remained committed to the principles of EO.
 
Clearly, the Holt government is not looking forward to a four-year reform process in the municipal sector. Our point here is that this field does not lend itself to a cookie cutter, one-size fits all, approach.
 
There are real implications for municipalities which are required by law to balance their budgets. The government should be prepared to assist municipalities that face serious problems.
 
Nonetheless, the provincial government must be prepared to do its reform properly and one year may not be enough.
 
Minister Kennedy and Premier Holt have defeated Goliath before, and they can do it again. It’s time for strong leadership and a realistic timeframe on a key file for the province.