St. John's business owners group asking Eddie Joyce to intervene in city tax hike

Business owners in St. John's who are upset with recent tax increases are taking their concerns to the Newfoundland and Labrador government.

Several have already signed a letter that's being sent to Municipal Affairs Minister Eddie Joyce, and are requesting that the province step in and ask St. John's city council to scrap its 2016 budget.

However, the provincial government is already signalling that it has no appetite to intervene in the dispute. 

We'd like to see the budget of 2016 torn up and thrown in the garbage.- Bob Hallett

Downtown business owner Bob Hallett told CBC Wednesday that their concerns include the timing and nature of the tax hikes.

"Council have not been paying attention to what businesses and residents are saying here. Instead they're just on their own blind course and it's not good enough," said Hallett, who co-owns Erins Pub, as well as the nearby restaurant Tavola.

"We deserve better from our elected representatives, and we deserve better use of our tax money. The minister of municipal affairs needs to take a hand here — because the inmates are running the asylum."

Hallett said he and other business owners feel there's no voice for them on city council, which is why they hope the provincial government will step in and do something about their concerns.

"We're appealing to a higher power. We've written a very considerate and passionate letter to Eddie Joyce, to ask him to intervene, to tell council they need to repeal this budget and start all over again," Hallett said.

"We felt the link between assessments, mil rates and tax rates were not very clear to very many people, nor was the fact the realization that their tax bills were coming out in January. And somehow they were supposed to connect all those dots themselves on the two busiest weeks of the year."

Difficult to make payroll

Hallett said some businesses in St. John's have seen tax increases of more than 100 per cent, and with the current economy, it's been difficult for those businesses to make payroll every week.

"Not to mention come up with, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars in increased taxes. It feels incredibly punitive, it feels like council dropped the ball," he said.

Hallett said business owners, investors and developers are concerned about the vacant property tax.

"We're terrified of the vacant property tax the city has brought in. Nobody with a commercial property wants to see it vacant. And then to be taxed on this, as if it's producing income, really adds insult to injury," he said.

"There's no opposition down there, there's no auditor general, there's nobody down there speaking for residents and taxpayers right now. We'd like to see the budget of 2016 torn up and thrown in the garbage."

Not our issue: Confederation Building

Meanwhile, the Department of Municipal Affairs says it will not be taking on the complaint from St. John's businesses. 

"The Department of Municipal Affairs will not be interfering in this matter," an official said in a statement to CBC News. 

"The only instances where we would intervene in municipal operations are where there has been fraudulent activity or a serious breach of legislative authority."

The statement noted that the council in St. John's "is a democratically elected body with the authority to prepare budgets and is ultimately accountable to the residents of the City of St. John's."

It concluded: "We urge the business community to continue to work with the City of St. John's on these issues."