Taxes are a common topic of discussion around the Town of Snow Lake's council table, and a general refrain from the many those taxes are collected from is: What am I getting in return for my money?
Around Snow Lake proper, one need only look to the roads, sewer system, water distribution, garbage collection, and fire protection. The benefits are plentiful and although some would disagree, for the most part, in town taxes are equitable in relation to the services ratepayers receive in return.
Conversely, there are people who live outside the town site who pay big taxes and receive very little in return for them. It was with this in mind that Rupert Klyne, representing the Snow Lake Cottage Owners Association, made a presentation to council concerning taxes on cottage properties.
In his address as a delegation to the council's Nov. 17 meeting, Klyne stated that he understood that the town and cottage owners had held some preliminary discussions over the last couple of years. He noted that these talks were held in an attempt to come up with a more even-handed approach to taxing cottage properties that did not receive the same level of service as similar properties within the town proper.
"As a means to moving that process forward, we would like to suggest the following," said Klyne. "Number one, we feel the non-road access cabins should be released from the Town of Snow Lake. They more properly belong with Northern Affairs, the same as the property that you allowed to join Herb Lake Landing a couple of years ago. And number two; we would like to discuss changes to the mill rate that reflects the services the road accessible cabins receive from the town. We feel that a response within two weeks is a reasonable time frame. Should this not be acceptable, we would expect to have a face-to-face meeting with all of council scheduled no later than the 8th of December to attempt to find some common ground."
Klyne made it clear that as a property owner in the town proper, he realized that taxes would likely increase in town, if cottage owners negotiated a lower mill rate for the outlying areas. "However, I believe this to be proper and fair," he opined. "I also believe that it is inappropriate for anyone who does not receive a service to help pay for it."
To move the process along, Klyne requested that the town reply in writing prior to Dec. 2. Noting that should the two groups be unable to come up with a resolution to the issue in that time frame, and if the cottage owners felt there was no will on the part of council to settle the matter, the association would go to the public to explain the issues that justified their request.
Council indicated a willingness to openly discuss the issue; however, it was explained that the council meeting was the last one prior to Dec. 1. As a result they would require more time to obtain information regarding how the situation was to be handled. A meeting will be arranged for some time in January 2010.
