Council asked to lower business taxes in RR

By Ken Johnston
Editor

Roadrunner Motel Owner Rob Cooper had his day in court, so to speak, Friday when he met with Rainy River Town Council.
Cooper who has been writing letters to the editor bi-weekly for the past month or so regarding his taxes at the motel and how high business taxes are in general in Rainy River, sat down with three town councillors and Mayor Deb Ewald Friday afternoon.
While Cooper had wanted the meeting to be public and had sent out emails to people inviting them, only one other person, Ed Tymkin, attended.
Cooper opened his discussion with council by apologizing to the council and town office staff. “I am sorry if I was a bit harsh in the paper.”
Mayor Deb Ewald said, “Apology accepted and because this is important we will allow you as long as your need to discuss matters. Normally at a committee of the whole meeting you would be given ten minutes.”
Cooper’s first item on his agenda was taxes. “I feel (business) tax rates are a little too high... wouldn’t it make sense to lower taxes to attract businesses here?”
Cooper said that in looking at other communities in the region, specifically Nestor Falls and Sioux Narrows, “I fail to see how they can operate on half the tax dollars.”
Councillor and Finance Chairman Brent Anderson noted that it is important to look at what each community’s total assessment value is. “Ours is $29 million. Emo’s is $61 million. There are lots of factors to consider when doing these calculations.”
Mayor Ewald said that council is trying to get closer to Emo’s business tax rates and has adjusted them here in recent budgets.
However, Cooper said that his taxes have risen steadily in the past few years. They went up $746, then $605 and $736 respectively over the last three years. He did note that his assessment dropped $31,000 last year and he is hopeful he will see a marked drop in his taxes to reflect that.
Cooper also encouraged the town to lower taxes and even incur a loss if they have to, to attract more businesses here. He pointed to the government stimulus funding and said that could be done here as well. However, as clarified when the Record asked council at the end of the meeting, “We can not by law incur a deficit from year to year,” said Anderson.
Anderson noted that if business taxes were lowered the residential rates would have to go up or servies would have to be cut. In a recent interview Anderson told the Record that residential taxpayers already foot 66.1% of the cost of operating the town and businesses pay 25.8% of the bill.
Cooper said he realizes that the town needs a certain amount of money to operate but feels lower taxes would attract more people here both to do business and to live which would expand the tax base and benefit everyone by spreading the burden out.
He was also critical of council’s decision to give financial assistance to the local curling club that nearly closed last fall. “By my calculations you gave them $13,000. I don’t think the town should be paying the curling clubs debts. They are a club and should do that. You could have used that money to help the rest of the taxpayers. What benefit do I get from the curling rink?”
Councillor Anderson then countered with, “Would you extend that (rationale) to the Recreation Centre or the Library? It was a decision we had to make and it was the first time in years that they have received any money from the town.”
Other concerns
•Cooper raised another bone of contention with the Town involving a 44% increase in his metered water rates. He brought a copy of a letter he received from the town that informed him of the increase. “I felt like this was targeting me since there is only one other user on meters (the hospital) in Rainy River. How is this fair?” Cooper proposed that the flat rate payers also be given a 44% rate increase and see how they like it.
Clerk Veldron Vogan said the reason for the increase was that the rates were never increased since 1994 while the flat rates have been dramatically increased.
Council said they were not aware that it had been such a dramatic hike and agreed to look at it and come back to the table with a solution.
•Cooper commended the town for reviving Railroad Daze and also suggested that they look at putting a casino in the former Border Gasthaus. “I can’t think of a better thing to put here,” said Cooper.
Mayor Ewald did tell him that they are working on several angles to change Rainy River from being the end of the road (as Cooper calls it) to a destination. However, she could not publically divulge what they are working on, but thanked Cooper for his input and encouraged him to send any ideas he has to the town’s economic development committee chaired by Councillor Gord Armstrong.
Cooper said that his intention at the meeting Friday was to be the spark that gets people talking. He hopes that through dialogue the community can come up with some solutions and make Rainy River a more attractive and affordable place to do business.