Baddeck, Victoria County disagree over responsibility for sidewalk snow clearing

Sidewalks will get plowed in Baddeck, N.S., this winter, but it's still not clear whether taxpayers in the village or those across the wider Municipality of Victoria County will pay for the service.

The Village of Baddeck has paid the sidewalk clearing bill for decades, with a contribution of $8,000 from the county.

But the total cost is now $24,000. Earlier this year, village commissioners voted to stop providing the service.

Commission chair Jennifer MacDonald said they think sidewalks belong to the county.

"We are not looking to shirk responsibility," she said. "If something is clearly a Village of Baddeck responsibility, we will take that on."

Residents of Baddeck pay an area tax rate to the village commission for some services, but they are also county taxpayers.

County pays for sidewalks elsewhere

MacDonald said village residents should only be paying for village assets, such as the waterfront wharf and boardwalk or the sewer and water treatment plants.

She said the county pays the full cost of sidewalk clearing in the northern Victoria County community of Ingonish and it's unfair to make Baddeck residents pay for their sidewalks and those in other communities.

"People in the Village of Baddeck contribute $1.5 million to municipal tax and we're one of the commercial centres in the municipality and the burden should not be on the village to do things that municipal tax dollars should be doing," she said.

The two sides met earlier this month, but did not reach an agreement. 

MacDonald said the Baddeck commissioners are disappointed.

"We will find a way to make it work because it is in the interest of public safety," she said.

"However, we stand by the understanding that this is a municipal service that's provided elsewhere and it should not be subsidized by an area rate here. It is not equitable use of tax dollars."

Willing to negotiate cost-sharing 

Victoria County Warden Jackie Organ declined an interview request. In an email, she said county councillors want more information before making a decision.

Organ said the county is willing to negotiate and hopes to come up with a fair cost-sharing agreement in the new year.