State of the city speech reflects on finances, development

Mayor needs to raise property taxes, commit to rapid transit, say critics

Mayor Sam Katz gave his state of the city speech on Friday, Feb. 4.
Katz speaks with reporters after his speech. Ethan Cabel

Mayor Sam Katz’s state of the city speech, hosted by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 4, mentioned a number of new developments in Winnipeg while chiding the provincial government over access to more revenue.

The Manitoba government should give the city one per cent of the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) to tackle its massive, $7.4 billion infrastructure deficit, Katz said after the sold-out speech.

“Do we think it’s reasonable and fair for the city to get one point from the PST? Absolutely,” the mayor told The Uniter.

Because Winnipeg is the economic centre of Manitoba and houses the majority of its population, the city should receive some support from the provincial government, Katz stated, adding that one per cent of the PST would amount to $139 million annually.

However, it appears that the mayor will be retaining the 13-year property tax freeze despite the city’s infrastructure problems.

According to experts like Michael Dudley, senior research associate at the University of Winnipeg’s Institute of Urban Studies, extending the property tax freeze has been unwise.

“(The extension is) only postponing the necessary reckoning,” Dudley said in an email.

Although he agrees with the mayor that the city should have access to more revenue, Dudley believes that maintaining the property tax freeze has hurt the city’s bargaining power.

Do we think it’s reasonable and fair for the city to get one point from the PST? Absolutely.

Sam Katz

“I wouldn’t blame the province for not granting Winnipeg more money” if they refuse to raise property taxes, he said.

The mayor defended the tax freeze, saying that it makes Winnipeg affordable for young families.

In order to maintain the freeze and ensure that the city is efficient, the mayor also made reference in his speech to an alternate service delivery committee, which will make “sure we avoid duplication with other levels of government or the private sector.”

For U of W politics professor Christopher Leo, this is simply a means of generating revenue by privatizing or cutting back on city services.

“These kinds of measures aren’t necessarily all bad,” he said. “But if somebody is doing a study of alternative service delivery at a time when the government is trying to avoid a needed tax increase, it’s a dangerous signal.”

Mayor Katz boasted about an array of new developments in his speech, including the new IKEA store set to open on Kenaston Boulevard.

He also mentioned several downtown residential developments, like the redevelopment of the Avenue Building on Portage Avenue.

However, there was no mention of rapid transit in the speech.

Sophia Sengsuriya, an architecture student at the University of Manitoba and the author of city planning blog Heart of the Continent, doesn’t think the mayor is serious enough about high density development or rapid transit, both of which are crucial to revitalizing the city’s core.

“We have an unhealthy relationship with the car and that’s the way the city is built,” she said, emphasizing the need for higher population density and some form of rapid transit. “We might not see that kind of development (rapid transit) in our lifetime if we don’t begin to talk about it now.”

Edit: This article originally stated that the state of the city speech was hosted by the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce. It was hosted by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. The Uniter regrets the error.

Published in Volume 65, Number 19 of The Uniter (February 10, 2011)

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