Of all the gripes we get, some valid, others trivial, the one that tends to be repeated most often by town taxpayers is: “Why are my taxes so high?”
It’s a good question.
The simple answer appears to be revenue, or more specifically a lack thereof.
And although no one in the newsroom can lay claim to an economics degree, or any form of municipal planning certification, simple logic appears to give us all the answers we require.
Here’s an easy example.
A new fire truck costs a lot. But if you’re municipality, you’re bound to provide fire protection services. So regardless of whether there’s 100 homes or 2,500, you still need a six-figure fire truck.
And if everyone has to pay an equal share it stands to reason the more people there are, the lighter the financial burden.
The same goes for recreation, roads, sewers, policing … you know, the things our municipal taxes pay for. Without a doubt there are thresholds — if a population gets too high, infrastructure collapses.
But Westlock, teetering at 5,000 residents, isn’t bursting at the seams by any means.
So it’s with open arms we welcome the proposed Westgate Business Park and Greenfield Estates development — council gave second reading to the subdivision’s area structure plan with third reading scheduled for its next meeting on July 17.
It’s been more than a decade since the last major subdivision in town and with the provincial economy flat at best, the time is right for an investment of this magnitude.
“We looked at all of our challenges, and there’s lots of them. There’s aging infrastructure, the cost of policing — which is going to be significant,” says mayor Ralph Leriger in our Page 1 story. “In almost every case the answer to them is growth. It’s my belief that we haven’t grown because we haven’t tried.”
He’s right.
Certainly there’s been some growth on the business side in Westlock over the past decade, but we need more.
Now not to throw cold water on this editorial, adding new homes and duplexes is great so long as people have good jobs to pay their mortgages.
And that’s kicker. We need more new businesses — of course that’s easier said then done.
Now none of this will happen overnight, but it’s encouraging that these first steps have been taken.
