Last year, the City of Prince George’s communications department posted the attached graphic to illustrate why local residents pay so much in taxes.
“There are a LOT of road, pipes, and other infrastructure to maintain,” it states.
But who decided to install that infrastructure? Who decided to make Prince George four times the size of Nanaimo? Who decided Prince George should have 25 percent fewer people per capita than Kamloops?
That would be the City of Prince George, especially its planning and development department, along with every Prince George mayor and city council of the last 50 years - and the voters who put them there.
Then and now, Prince George has had big dreams. That’s what fueled so much capital spending from the city for so long, everything from the city choosing to quintuple its size in 1975 to building one of the longest airport runways in Canada and developing Boundary Road 20 years ago.
That “if we build it, they will come” philosophy hasn’t worked for decades but it remains locked in place because to change would challenge the cheerful but naïve optimism that Prince George’s best days are right around the corner, once the world learns how awesome this city and its people are.
Those rose-coloured glasses have – and continue to - cloud the judgment of civic leaders and bureaucrats. Hope is not a plan, except at the City of Prince George, where hope is known as the Official Community Plan.
After getting socked with a 7.58 tax increase in 2023 and with a similar-sized increase likely in store for 2024, Prince George residents pay some of the highest municipal taxes in B.C. for past good intentions that under-delivered, while costing far more over time than advertised.
But throw more new money at new good intentions and it will work better this time, right?
The options? Reduce city spending, services and staff. Make developers pay the true cost of their projects. Shut down aging civic facilities and don’t replace them.
Ooh, bad for business.
Ooh, angry residents upset at mayors and city councillors because of less reliable snow removal, less frequent garbage pickup, less park maintenance, less space for arts, sports and events, less nice to haves.
But long gone are the days when anybody gets elected at any level of government by promising to tighten the belt and do less for voters. In today’s climate, that’s political suicide.
Until the City of Prince George’s administrative and political leadership – along with the people who elect them – get more honest about the difference between what they want and what they need, expect big local tax hikes each spring for years to come.
Neil Godbout is the Citizen's editor
