Cochrane is one of the fastest growing communities in Canada, and it was recently reported the average residential single-family assessment in Cochrane has increased 13.21 per cent this year. These are each two very important, inter-related issues.
This assessment will mean Cochrane homeowners will pay more in taxes this year. As a property owner, this is a ‘mixed blessing,’ to me, because it means my house is worth more this year. However, unless you are a real estate agent (like some members of council are), the only reality is a bigger tax bill.
To overly simplify taxation and the budgetary and/or planning decisions that are based on tax revenue would be a mistake. Some of the spending and rezoning decisions made by this council were stated to be ‘essential’ to prepare for our town growing to over 50,000 people in the not-so-distant future. However, our current water license is unable to support this growth. So, was this spending appropriate or was this wasted spending because council overlooked an essential element of their taxation assumptions?
Council has created a growth-dependent budget and growth must now occur in order to stay within a balanced figure and to pay for this council’s numerous spending promises. Cochrane currently relies on residential taxes for the bulk of its operating budget, whereas other communities have a healthy balance between their commercial and residential tax base. Council has been unable to make any meaningful changes in the commercial versus residential tax base for over a decade now. This means that there is only one main source of tax revenue – Cochrane homeowners. It is not too far fetched to think that in the near future, Cochrane will have the same problem as Canmore i.e., people will be unable to afford to live here.
There are also the many issues related to fast unsustainable growth such as increased traffic problems, increased infrastructure maintenance costs, a boom vs. bust cycle of building, prematurely outpacing our current traffic infrastructure improvements, questionable and/or rushed land use decisions, etc.
I would urge all of us to ask council questions about what Cochrane will look like in 10-plus years.
Dan Cunin
