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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
No flood fix
Some of the rural municipalities that were slammed by flooding last year are not going to like the grants the province is offering to ease the municipal tax burden caused by water damage. Many properties in some municipalities on or near Lake Manitoba were hit hard by damage, meaning their assessments have fallen this year. The grant is to help out those property owners who will see their 2012 taxes rise because municipalities must get more of their tax revenue from them.
The Local Government Department is offering $380,000 in total, to seven municipalities. Most of them border Lake Manitoba, which was purposely flooded last year when the province redirected Assiniboine River water down the Portage Diversion. Some of them saw a lot of properties devastated as houses or cottages were inundated. Those properties saw their assessment fall dramatically, which will be reflected in their tax bills.
Those municipalities have to collect more from those whose properties were relatively unscathed or untouched by flooding. The province has calculated the costs as a result of flooding and is offering grants to the municipalities, which can then pass a tax credit to lift that extra burden off property owners for 2012 alone.
Some municipalities will argue, legitimately, that some of the impact of the flooding on the tax base will last for years. It will take time for people to rebuild, to restore value to their land and houses and that depends on how quickly water recedes and property dries out.
The provincial government, then, may have to consider extending the program. This gives added urgency to getting the disaster relief program's compensation cheques into the hands of property owners looking to fix, rebuild or raise their buildings to protect themselves against future flooding.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 9, 2012 A12
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