Moncton residents want lower rural tax rate or out of municipality

Residents of Timberline Ridge in Moncton say the city should establish a lower tax rate for properties that aren't fully serviced or they'll ask the province to remove the area from the municipality. 

Mary Weston spoke on behalf of about two dozen residents of the rural area near Magnetic Hill at a council committee meeting Monday. She called it "unfair and unacceptable" they pay for services the city has no plans to provide. 

She said the area lacks park space, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, water and sewer lines. Fire hydrants are about two kilometres away, which lead to higher insurance rates, Weston said. 

"Charging for something you are not delivering — from a legal standpoint — is fraud in its truest sense and that is wrong," Weston said. 

Councillors called on city staff to examine the issue and report back to council by October.

Residents want the city to implement a two-tier residential tax rate by January 2020. Unserviced properties would pay about 75 per cent of the serviced rate.

In 2018, Moncton charged a residential property tax rate of $1.6497 per $100 of assessed value. Farther up the hill, and across the municipal boundary, the rate was $0.91 for in the Moncton local service district.

Other cities have two-tiers

Dieppe and Fredericton already have two-tiered rates. 

Fredericton charged $1.4211 for its "inside" rate last year, while its "outside" rate was $1.0658.

Gerald MacEachern, another Timberline Road resident, said he knew the area was within city limits and would pay its tax rate. 

"We did not know there were no plans to service the area," MacEachern said.

A city staff report says Moncton's single residential property tax rate is meant to discourage sprawl. 

"Sound planning principles suggest that development on the periphery of the city not be encouraged but rather that the development in the downtown and centre-city, where tax revenues per square metre are considerably greater, be intensified," the report states.

MacEachern said not everyone wants to live downtown. He said if the city reduced a requirement to have a five-acre lot in unserviced areas and reduced the tax rate, it would help drive development within city limits instead of outside the boundary. 

Staff to examine issue

Several councillors spoke in favour of taking a look at what residents proposed and asked staff to prepare a report by fall. 

"I'd love to see you stay citizens of Moncton, and hopefully we can come up with something," said Coun. Bryan Butler, who represents the Timberline Ridge area.