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From the Smoky Lake Signal, Wednesday, September 25, 2002. Volume 25, Number 20. Taxpayer Revolt continued Extra seats had to be brought into Smoky Lake County council chambers September 19 to accommodate the number of taxpayers who refused to be intimidated by last month's sign the book or the police come tactics of the county council. County taxpayers are still demanding an answer to why the taxes have increased. There have been four meetings on taxation, that the ratepayers have attended, said former reeve Noel Downham. Let's put acrimony aside and not get into petty matters, but get down to the main issue for people here - the tax increase, the extra amount of cash that people have to pay. Former councillor Dennis Holowaychuk, having earlier served legal papers on both Reeve Franchuk and CEO Cary Smigerowsky for last month's nonsense of calling the RCMP, said that over the last four meetings the delegates have provided council with a viable solution to the issue of tax increases. Councillors should make a decision. Are they prepared to accept the delegates recommendations to reduce taxes to the same as charged in 2001, and give the assessors time to review the assessments county wide. If the answer is yes and any councillor wishes to make the motion at this time, then thank you. Reeve Franchuk said the council would be talking to assessor Al McNaughton that the afternoon. The asessor is contacting the 200 plus ratepayers who have appealed taxes. At this time we don't know what our tax base will be, said the reeve. There's a difference between assessments and millrate, and it's the millrate this county council set that is in question. If county council wasn't going to reduce taxes, the delegation wanted the reasons in writing. It was a moderate request. The fireworks came from ratepayer Kathy Loffelbein, who has lived in this county for 40 years, with her husband and children. "The first issue, Policy 25-01, regarding wearing hats and caps in council chambers. It's my opinion that if council, the CAO, or the reeve, would ask people attending the meeting to remove their hats and caps as a courtesy, no one would refuse, but to point to an individual and tell them to take off their hat or they'll have to leave the room is dictatorial and rude, and shows a total lack of professionalism. The word respect is in the hats and cap policy, but respect has to be earned, and it can't be demanded. In my opinion, you have not earned that respect," said Mrs. Loffelbein. "The second issue is the signing of the registry book of attendance. Any public meeting I have ever attended, if there was a guest book, I had the option to sign it or not. But in this County of Smoky Lake #13, you must sign or be removed by the RCMP. Interestingly enough, only certain people have been targeted. Are we living in a democracy or a dictatorship?" asked the ratepayer. "Have you, who are elected by the people forgotten your duties? You were elected to serve, not to dictate or command and intimidate the taxpayers of the county. In my opinion, your arrogance and bullying behaviour is beyond belief. The actions of the CAO, Cary Smigerowsky, at the August 22, 2002 meeting, towards a taxpayer who came to address a long standing concern was condescending and demeaning. It was a power trip in action. To the gentleman who was denied access to his backyard, a blatant statement "access denied" is again power and control. "I'm using the two specific incidences to show what I see is a very disturbing trend in how the CAO, Cary Smigerowsky, and council will deal with future issues. Are we the taxpayers being conditioned to accept a total controlling administration? "You were elected to be the ears, to listen, and the voice, to speak for the taxpayers of this county. Personally, I am in the opinion that you have done neither. The year 2002 as a direct result of the ongoing drought has been and still is a time of tremendous hardship for the people in this county. You have shown neither compassion, nor understanding. Instead, you have raised your own salaries, without consultation to the taxpayers, and then you raised the taxes. It seems that when you sit in your chairs behind that desk, you are no longer the farmer, neighbor or shop keeper, but the ultimate authority with absolute power to make or break. "In summary," said Mrs. Loffelbein, "I feel the CAO and councillors could better spend their time and taxpayers money looking after real issues instead of drafting policies that are worthless and insulting. Listen to the people who elected you. Be open and honest. If a mistake is made, own up to it and correct it. In your present position, you are not above the people here today, or any other taxpaying individual. Please remember, nothing lasts forever, and a bad image left behind is never totally erased." Earlier in the meeting there were hints of a growing rift between County Manager Smigerowsky and the council, and a change in direction. Mr. Smigerowsky had produced, for the council meeting, a municipal millrate comparison showing the various tax rates in neighboring municipalities. But Deputy Reeve Dareld Cholak pointed out that the comparisons are invalid without knowing how the assessments are done. Do the assessors compare farmland the same, for instance. CAO Smigerowsky said they would have to come up with at least two identical parcels, and then they may look the same, but the underlying codes may be different. "The assessor took objection when I said the system is arbitrary," said Councillor Cory Ollikka, "but the whole market is arbitrary." Reeve Mike Franchuk suggested bringing in two other assessors from other counties to compare property. CAO Smigerowsky suggested just asking Municipal Affairs inspectors to double check the county assessor's results. Pick five properties and have Al McNaughton and the inspector go out and see if the values are in line. "We need to look at exactly how we're going to do assessments next year," said Councillor Ollikka. "See whether the jumps in assessments are anomalies. But we set our millrate based on averages brought forth by our administration, and they were premature to say the least. Now we're in this bind. We have to make adjustments. How do we do it? I don't know if this year's taxes can be adjusted, or by the time we implement the change will it be into the next year. Or maybe should we make retroactive adjustments next year?" said Councillor Ollikka. Reeve Franchuk said it's too late for this year. "Maybe we'll have to do something for next year. We have until March." Councillor Cholak said that with 200 plus appeals, they can't do anything until the appeal process is over. "Are we going to knock 20% off of everybody's taxes? asked administrator Smigerowsky. Look at other municipalities. Our millrate is lower than some of theirs. Over time it may look politically good to lower the millrate, but you have to look at doing less too - like road work. All municipalities are paying the same for graders, the same for oil, the same for hauling gravel. If we reduce the millrate, we have got to do less. Other than wages, the cost of everything is fixed, and we can't run graders without people. "We can't do it before the appeal process," said Reeve Franchuk, "we don't know what's going to happen there. But I can see why the ratepayers are angry. It's the over half a million dollars extra that is coming into the county over last year. If we had of known at the time." The revolt continues. Return to the Smoky Lake
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