Iqaluit city council votes against property tax hikes

Iqaluit City Council has voted down a proposal to raise residential and commercial property taxes.

On Tuesday night, council voted 4 to 3 against the proposed bylaw to raise the mill rate. That rate is used as the basis for calculating property tax.

Councillor Kenny Bell voted against the motion and said a recent letter from the Iqaluit Chamber of Commerce helped persuade him. The letter asked the city to defer any mill rate decision until the city has a plan to eliminate its deficit.

"These are business people and they hire and employ residents of Iqaluit," he said.

"We need these businesses to keep the economy going. If you lose those small businesses you lose the middle class then politicians won't be held to accord."

The proposal to increase the mill rate was an effort to deal with the deficit in the city's budget. Now, the draft budget approved by the city's finance committee will be reviewed.

The proposal for the mill rate could be changed or the committee could make a cut to another part of the budget.

Deputy Mayor Romeyn Stevenson told councillors that if it comes down to the second option, councillors had better come with ideas about what can be cut.