CHRIS LOWREY

MUNICIPALITY OF PONTIAC Feb. 20, 2019

Businesses in the Municipality of Pontiac will be facing a massive increase on this year’s tax bill.

The municipality’s budget laid out a 4.3 per cent property tax increase for residential properties.

It was recently revealed that non-residential properties will face a tax increase of 63 per cent compared to last year.

Last year’s evaluation rate was around 68 cents for every $100 on the assessment roll. It’s now gone to $1.10 for every $100 on the assessment roll.

When reached last month about the 4.3 per cent residential tax hike, Municipality of Pontiac Mayor Joanne Labadie chalked it up to the loss of taxpayers after several

homes were condemned in the wake of the floods and tornadoes that hit the municipality in the last couple of years.

Labadie did not respond for comment by press time.

Avant Garde Farm owner Siri Indebrigtsen was shocked to see the increase. She runs a horse farm where she stables and trains horses.

Although she runs a horse farm, she’s not considered a “farm property.” In order to be considered as such, she would have to raise horses for slaughter or for breeding – neither of which interests her.

“It’s not like I’m a multi-million dollar business,” she said. “We started as horse lovers who just wanted to make a life with horses.”

Now, Indebrigtsen said she’ll have to fork out an additional $1,500 this year – for a total of $4,500 – compared to the $3,000 she paid last year in taxes.

“Why are we, as small businesses that are trying to stay afloat in this community, why do we have to pick up the slack for everybody else?” Indebrigtsen asked. “It’s almost like they don’t want us to be here.”

Indebrigtsen said her only options are to eat the additional costs or pass them on to her customers – something she’s wary of doing.

“It ain’t gonna fly with them,” she said.

She said this is an example of mismanagement on the part of the municipality. She added that she’s puzzled as to how the municipality could be forced into hiking property taxes so high so fast.

“If I as a business would have made that kind of error in budgeting, I would have gone bankrupt,” she said. “I love the community, but I just don’t love how it’s run.”

Indebrigtsen said that the municipality has been losing businesses at a faster pace than they are springing up.

“And they’re going to lose more if they keep doing this,” she said.