https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/metal-recycling-aim-saint-john-tax-cut-1.7093915
Controversial Saint John metal recycling operation wins property tax cut
Service New Brunswick assessment and restrictive provincial property tax rules combine to force discount
The controversial scrap-metal shredding and export site in Saint John that was at the centre of a major two-day fire last year is in line for a 5.8 per cent reduction in its municipal property tax bill in 2024. It comes following a $183,100 assessment reduction granted by Service New Brunswick last week.
The reduction is in sharp contrast to most neighbours of American Iron and Metal who will be paying more for city services this year than last year.
"It's incredible," said Bryan Wilson, one of those neighbours who doesn't like that contrast.
Wilson's own property assessment, like almost all of his neighbours, is up more than 30 per cent in 2024 because of rising real estate values.
Bryan
Wilson has lived in a neighbourhood close to the AIM scrap-metal
operation since 2019 and isn't pleased its property tax bill is going
down in 2024. (Robert Jones/CBC)
He lives within a kilometre of the scrap-metal business and has experienced many of the 20 fires and 140 explosions documented at the site since 2017. He believes whatever assessment formulas and property tax rules that have residents paying more in 2024, and the AIM property paying less, need to be addressed.
"Some of the residents I know would be deeply upset by AIM getting anything that looks like a discount," said Wilson.
Property tax bills will not be issued by the province for another five weeks but in Saint John property assessment notices, upon which bills are based, have already made it clear the city's tax burden is shifting onto residential property owners more than in the past.
Part of that is driven by modest growth in assessed values given to business properties by Service New Brunswick for 2024, in comparison to large increases on residential properties.
But an equally significant factor is that provincial property tax rules restrict municipalities from moving tax rates for business and residents independently of one another to offset assessment differences.
Service New Brunswick will not discuss details of values it assigns to business properties even though a number of those issued in Saint John for 2024, including to AIM, are resulting in reduced revenues to the city that residential property owners are having to replace.
That is galling to Wilson, who said after last summer's two-day-long scrap-metal fire in his neighbourhood, he doesn't want to think even a bit of the increased property tax from him will be used to replace lower taxes for the AIM facility.
"It's really just another insult that says after what you just went through in September, and what you've been going through for 10 years, we're going to give them a discount?"
Last year, with residential assessments rising rapidly, the New Brunswick government did lift the limit municipalities can charge business properties, from 150 per cent of the residential tax rate to 170 per cent.
Saint John council has asked the province for more authority to raise industrial tax rates above current limits. (City of Saint John/YouTube)
That was meant to help municipalities level property tax increases between household properties facing large assessment increases and business properties that weren't.
But with residential assessments up significantly again this year, the province has declined to raise the limit on business property tax rates any further, despite requests from Saint John and other municipalities.
That decision has been applauded by business.
Ron Marcolin is the divisional vice-president for New Brunswick with the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters organization. He said business property owners already pay substantially higher rates than residential owners.
He said industry is open to changes being discussed, but is wary of giving municipalities free reign to raise and lower property tax rates without restriction.
"Industry is happy to have a review but certainly not at the cost of industry where there are no limits," said Marcolin
"That's clearly not realistic."
With Saint John unable to raise industrial property tax rates further in 2024, a number of industrial properties in the city have assessments low enough to pay reduced municipal property taxes from last year.
In addition to AIM metal recycling, they include the Irving Oil Refinery, the Canaport crude-oil tank farm and various oil pipelines, Repsol's LNG facility, J.D. Irving Ltd.'s paper mill, wallboard plant and tissue mill, the Moosehead brewery and both of N.B. Power's Saint John generating stations.
The
Bayside natural gas generating station recently underwent a $70-million
refurbishment with the installation of a new turbine. Nevertheless, its
assessed value for 2024 by Service New Brunswick dropped by 9.5 per
cent. (Robert Jones/CBC)
That includes N.B. Power's Bayside natural gas generating station, which underwent a $70 million refit in 2022 and 2023 with the installation of a new turbine and still had its assessment lowered $1.6 million —9.5 per cent — by Service New Brunswick.
That will cost Saint John $54,000 in reduced revenue.
In an emailed statement, New Brunswick's Department of Local Government said property tax rules for municipalities are under review and changes, in the future, are possible.
"Government will continue discussions on possibilities of providing more flexibility to set different tax rates," said the statement.
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2 Saint John councillors reinstated after nearly 5-month suspension
Joanna Killen and Brent Harris were suspended from committees for their actions during CUPE strike
Saint John city councillors Joanna Killen and Brent Harris were reinstated to their council committee roles at Monday night's meeting after a code of conduct complaint was reviewed by a law firm.
The two were accused of supporting a strike by city workers last fall and were suspended from their committee work.
Both were absent Monday night when council voted at the end of their meeting to reinstate them.
A city news release said a code of conduct investigation had concluded there were breaches of the code, but there was "no malice or ill-will involved."
"Councilor Harris and Councilor Killen have apologized for any error on their part and Council accepts that apology," the statement went on to say.
Mayor Donna Reardon declined an interview with CBC News after council ended on Monday, expressing an interest in "moving forward."
Harris was removed from the growth and transit committees, while Killen was removed from the growth committee and the community arts board. The sanctions by council did not affect Harris and Killen's ability to take part in regular council meetings.
Harris 'happy' issue is resolved
Harris said he's looking forward to getting back to work and is happy with how the situation was resolved.
"I'm a first-time elected official, and 8,400 people chose to put trust in me, and I told them I was going to do a certain job," he said.
"I've got two and a half years left, so it really put me in a place of confusion on how to proceed when the first half of my journey was unfolding in a certain way."
Harris said he's looking forward to returning to work on committees after his reinstatement. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Councillors don't have to be on committees to do a good job, "but when you spent two and a half years doing it, you miss it when it's gone," said Harris, who is also chair of the strategic plan steering committee and represents the city at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
He said he's not concerned that what happened during the strike will hurt his relationship with council.
"I think we've demonstrated that we can have a disagreement and resolve it, and now it's going to be a matter of walking the walk forward together," Harris said.
Killen declined to be interviewed when reached Tuesday.
Councillors had sued city after suspension
Both councillors told CBC News at the time that they were blindsided by the suspension and expressed their support for members of CUPE Local 486 who were on strike.
Harris said at the time that he was just trying to better understand the union's position so that he could bring back information to council.
The two launched a lawsuit against the city in November, calling their suspension "humiliating."
Killen and Harris said in the lawsuit claim that they weren't given the ability to defend their actions before council.
The city's statement on the reinstatements said that "interim measures will not be taken until the Councilor being the subject of a complaint, has had an opportunity to be heard by Council."
Harris declined to answer any questions about the settlement.
A court clerk said the lawsuit was dropped on Tuesday, and any settlement would have been reached out of court.
The only councillor to vote against the reinstatement was Paula Radwan.
"I am voting against this tonight because I didn't want to take this step. I do personally believe that councillors Killen and Harris had their best intentions," Radwan said before being cut off by Reardon.
"I do hope that we review the code of conduct," Radwan then said.
Mayor said councillors 'crossed a fine line'
In October, Reardon told CBC News that the two councillors had "crossed a fine line" by supporting striking workers. She said that the council had already debated their offer to the union, and it was unfair for the councillors to continue speaking with union members afterward.
The workers, including those employed in emergency dispatch, recreation, customer service, administrative support and bylaw enforcement, were on strike from Sept. 12 to Oct. 11.
Saint
John Mayor Donna Reardon said the two councillors had 'crossed a fine
line' by supporting striking workers during negotiations. (Hadeel Ibrahim/CBC)
Reardon pointed to Killen and Harris's posts on social media showing they met with striking workers and held up picket signs.
"All those things demonstrate that they've taken a side on this different than what council as a team has agreed to do," Reardon said.
She also mentioned that the councillors had voiced their opinions on social media.
The review was conducted by a law firm. Councillors cannot be fully suspended, but they can be removed from committee positions or docked pay.
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