Taxing doctors a taxing move, says this Corner Brook property owner
Jamie Fowlow says the city's business tax is a burden on medical professionals
A property owner in Corner Brook, N.L., wants the city to revamp its business taxes to better accommodate medical professionals.
Jamie Fowlow owns Veitch Wellness Centre, a 20,000-square-foot building that houses family physicians, gynaecologists, massage therapists, physiotherapists and orthopedic surgeons.
He says while his own property tax for the building is reasonable, at $30,000 a year, each medical professional inside the building is also paying tax to the city -- and it's taking a toll on them.
"They are providing a service to the community. They are not a business in the sense of the word," Fowlow said.
"They can't increase their prices to cover their overhead. MCP pays a flat rate to them. And the business tax that medical professionals pay in this building combined is $66,000."
Business taxes are based on the value of the property, and assessed by the Municipal Assessment Agency.
But the rate depends on the class of business. For example, banks pay 12 per cent, while medical professionals in Fowlow's building would pay 3.4 per cent.
The majority of businesses in Corner Brook fall under the general commercial and industrial category that comes in at about 1.68 per cent.
Fowlow would like to see the city amalgamate business and property tax into one commercial tax and make it uniform. He feels everybody should pay the same tax, based on the property assessment.
"I think it's time for Corner Brook to get a little more modern, a little more proactive about recruiting medical professionals and say 'hey, we want your business here. We are not going to penalize you with a business tax," he said.
Fowlow is currently seeking more professionals to fill vacancies in the Veitch Wellness Centre, and says the question of overhead costs always comes up.
The city's mayor, Jim Parsons, says he would love to do away with the business tax.
It's just not that simple.
Tax funds 80 per cent of the city's operations for things like roads, water, garbage collection, snow clearing and recreation, Parsons says.
"I think we do very well. I think we get a lot of value for our tax dollars here in the city and I think that a lot of professionals chose to work in this city because it is a great place to live and work," said Parsons.
He says the only other municipality that has changed its business tax approach is St. John's.
"We get a little over $6 million of our $40 million [municipal budget] from business tax. Obviously, if we did away with that business tax we would have to find another source of revenue."
But Fowlow says reconfiguring the approach could cut down on costs for family physicians and physiotherapists and make Corner Brook a more desirable location to work and live.
"They have salaries and overhead and heat and light and all the same things that a regular business has. But they only have access to MCP billing. So unless they want to work extra hours, and they are already working pretty thin on extra hours, they can't generate more revenue," he says.
"If bills go up again next year and taxes go up again next year, their incomes go down, because they can't replace it."
WATCH | Jamie Fowler says these overhead costs will keep medical professionals away:
According to the mayor, the city tweaks the business tax slightly every year based on assessments.
With a municipal election coming this fall, Fowlow suggests tax payers and business owners make their concerns known to candidates running for council.
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