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Wed., Nov 19, 2014
Issue 29
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY FOR 112 YEARS
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769
Kitchen earns Conservative nod By Norm Park normpark@estevanmercury.ca
It took four rounds of vote tabulation, but when the nominee dust settled, Dr. Robert Kitchen emerged as the successful nominee who will carry the SourisMoose Mountain constituency’s Conservative Party banner into the next federal campaign. The call for nominees attracted a total of six hopefuls who expressed a desire to represent the riding with the impending retirement of current MP Ed Komarnicki. The nomination convention forums and votes were conducted in Kipling on Friday evening, and in Weyburn and Estevan on Saturday morning and afternoon, with the vote tabulation following immediately after. The tabulation ultimately ended with Kitchen being declared as the nominee with the most
Robert Kitchen votes cast in his favour by Conservative Party members in the sprawling riding that covers all of southeast Saskatchewan. “I’m just getting my feet on the ground and realizing it’s a whole new game and a learning opportunity,” said Kitchen when contacted on Monday to comment on the outcome. The Estevan-based chiropractor, who operates a clinic in partnership with two other practitioners, will be making adjustments to
his personal schedule but assured patients and clients, the clinic will continue to operate as usual. “Ed is still the MP, that is the certainty. I’m just the candidate and I hope I can consult with him, learn more about the constituency so I can take that into the campaign,” he said, referring to the expected federal election planned for October 2015. “I’m just going to be taking little steps here at first,” he said. Calven Johnson, president of the Conservative’s Souris-Moose Mountain Riding Association, said party members cast 98 votes in Kipling, 142 in Weyburn and 455 in Estevan. He said the group was quite pleased with the total, even though there was a thinner than expected turnout in Weyburn. After the official delegates/members cast their →A2 Estevan
North Pole Bound Emalee Ursu was just one of many youngsters who were fascinated with the Lego train and village display that was featured at the Kinette Club Craft/Trade Show on Saturday.
City seeks balance as property tax gap grows By Jordan Baker editor@estevanmercury.ca
After being among the fairest Saskatchewan cities in 2010 when it comes to municipal property taxes, Estevan is now considered the third least fair based on 2013 numbers. That was the story told in a report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) when the seventh annual edition of the Wanted: Property Tax Fairness in Saskatchewan study was published last week. Among the cities, Estevan’s property tax gap ranks 13th out of 15, and among all studied municipalities with a population of more than 1,000, the Energy City ranks 53rd out of 69.
SWAP RIDE
The property tax gap, as identified by CFIB, measures the difference between municipal property taxation of commercial and residential properties. CFIB identifies “fair” tax gaps as those that are narrow, where the commercial and residential tax rates are more similar. Estevan’s property tax gap jumped to 2.82. In 2010 it was 2.27, and in both 2011 and 2012 it was 2.24. The average gap in 2013 was 2.48 among the cities, meaning that on average businesses paid $2.48 in property tax for every dollar paid by residential owners. In 2013, Estevan homeowners paid $992 in municipal taxes per $200,000 of assessed value, while commercial properties were
taxed $2,797 for the same assessed value. The figures don’t include provincial and educational taxes or costs for utilities like water, electricity or gas. Martensville was labeled as the most fair, with a property tax gap of 1.48. Residential taxes in that city were $1,558, per $200,000 assessment while businesses paid $2,310. CFIB said that makes Martensville the fairest city in the province, the fourth year in a row it has received the glowing label. All those numbers, however, may not tell a complete story of Estevan’s tax fairness. CFIB is measuring what is fair by the difference in property tax share, and Estevan has the third largest difference
Cities: Municipal property tax gaps and municipal taxes for $200,000 of assessed value Municipality
2013 Residential taxes
Martensville Warman Saskatoon Weyburn Melfort Regina Moose Jaw Meadow Lake Melville North Battleford Swift Current Humboldt Estevan Yorkton Prince Albert Average
2013 Commercial taxes
2013 Property tax gap
$2,310 $2,216 $1,598 $2,106 $3,577 $2,243 $2,945 $4,141 $3,839 $3,784 $2,289 $3,875 $2,797 $4,200 $6,583 $3,234
1.48 1.67 1.79 2.06 2.09 2.16 2.51 2.53 2.56 2.66 2.71 2.79 2.82 3.19 4.23 2.48
$1,558 $1,326 $895 $1,022 $1,716 $1,038 $1,173 $1,634 $1,500 $1,425 $845 $1,388 $992 $1,317 $1,557 $1,292
among the cities. But as part of Estevan’s “unfairness” the city has the
third lowest residential tax rate among Saskatchewan cities, behind Swift Cur-
rent, $845 per $200,000 of assessed value, and Saskatoon, $895. →A2 Tax
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2014-09-19 10:18 AM