Since the amalgamation of Manitoba municipalities in 2015, several communities have been struggling with how to fashion a taxation system that’s fair to both urban and rural landowners.

Tuesday evening saw strong representation from both sides of the proverbial fence at the Municipal Board Hearing at the Wawanesa Hall.  Three members from the Municipal Board were in attendance to hear arguments both for and against the addition of two new levies for special services to the Oakland-Wawanesa 2020 budget.

By-law #05-2019 proposes a special service levy for the operation and maintenance of municipal recreation facilities.  Currently, the bulk of operations and upgrades of rec facilities including the Wawanesa swimming pool, arena/curling rink, 3 community centers in the RM, & playgrounds and baseball diamonds have been funded by grants through the municipality.  

Contention rises when council proposes to add a special levy to taxes that rural landowners already feel are too high, for a service (such as a recreation facility) that they don’t use on a regular basis.  The lack of interest to help fund these recreation areas stems from a variety of reasons; one being that these facilities are simply too far away, as they are most often located at the southeastern edge of the municipality in the town of Wawanesa.

The same argument goes for By-law #07-2019 which is a proposed special services levy to help with the costs of waste management and waste disposal at the two disposal sites. 

The intent of the special levies is to level the amount of taxation more fairly when it comes to paying for recreation and waste disposal services in the RM. Some rural residents say these two levies are just the tip of the iceberg, that there is a much deeper rooted problem; that being the shift of tax burden from the urban to the rural.

Some feel there should be a user fee for those making use of the different rec facilities and the waste disposal sites. “The people who are using the facilities should be paying the lion’s share of the cost,” says one rural resident.

Head of Council for the Municipality of Oakland-Wawanesa, Dave Kreklewich, says the Tuesday evening hearing with the Municipal Board went well.  “Everybody had their opportunities to speak to the Board and we made our position known, and at the same time, people got the chance to ask questions and that’s always important.”

Comments shared from both rural and urban property-owners throughout Tuesday evening’s Hearing in Wawanesa:

“Folks have seen a significant increase in their taxes and there are other options to raise funds for these rec facilities besides taxation.”  (rural landowner)

“Rec facilities play a vital role in maintaining a healthy community.”

“This is an extreme example of unfair taxation.  There is no increase in services and yet our taxes have sky-rocketed.”  (rural landowner)

“The proposed levies will move our municipality to a more harmonized tax rate.”

“Shared cost has reduced Wawanesa taxes but increased rural taxes. The taxation shift from urban to rural has become a burden to rural after the 2015 amalgamation.”

“The needs and wants are different for rural and in town.”

“Council has been forced to do this because of the change of assessment.  The special levy is used as a tool to resolve the struggle of continuing these services.”

“With 137 municipalities across the province we need to look for ways to get along and not to divide.”

Since the 2015 amalgamation, Council has worked at moving from a differential mil rate to a harmonized mil rate, as mandated by the Province, and this is to be in place by 2022. 

Some municipalities are lobbying hard against this change as it puts their council on the hot seat to try to tax landowners fairly, over large municipal areas, in order to comply with government directives. They feel continuing with the differential mil rate is the fairest way to tax rural and urban residents fairly.

There aren’t many options, says Kreklewich.  “To go to a differential mil rate, you can only do that for another year and then do special levies for the last year to get to that mil rate or you just carry on with a harmonized mil rate altogether which is going to be a hardship on the farmers.”

Farm property keeps going up in value which is some of the problem when it comes to taxation.  As one farmer stated in Tuesday’s hearing, “the assessment of your land does not increase your annual income.”

The added factor of CP Rail pulling their rail lines in the RM of Oakland back in 2014, as well as the closure of the administrative office in the Village of Wawanesa upon amalgamation in 2015, exacerbated the problem and created the perfect storm, as it were. 

When the Municipal Board finally decides which direction they should go, Kreklewich is hoping his community of Oakland-Wawanesa will come together and work as one unit and move forward.  

Council is hoping for a decision from the Municipal Board by mid-July.