Annapolis Royal working without NSPI information

By Geoffrey Agombar

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com “It is difficult to understand facts and prepare a response when everything is oral, nothing is in writing,” insists Annapolis Royal CAO Amery Boyer, putting her finger on perhaps the most troubling aspect of the sudden crisis thrust on the town.

A full six weeks after the town first learned of the impending threat of significantly reduced tax revenue from Nova Scotia Power, Boyer, Mayor Phil Roberts, and MLA Stephen McNeil all confirm that no documents have been offered to back up the sudden drop from $40.5 million to $9 million on December 5, nor the bump back up to $16 million the following week. They have only verbal assurances that the old assessment was flawed because it included machinery and equipment and failed to properly account for depreciation, and that the new assessment had to be adjusted upward after new details about the property were received from NSP.

INFORMATION VACUUM

Boyer cannot understand why no one thought to warn the town of the approaching tidal wave. Furthermore she is at a loss as to why she heard nothing about NSPI reassessments during the four years since they were requested, because she sat on the board of directors of the Property Valuation Services Corporation during three of those years. (Note: The PVSC took control of all property assessment in the province as of April 1 2008. The not-for-profit corporation was formed to give municipalities better control of the assessment process as part of a “Made in Nova Scotia” attempt to eliminate the perennial finger-pointing tug-of-war between municipalities, which set tax rates, and provinces, which control assessments.) “If it is true that [the NSPI reassessments] were happening during the time that I sat on that board, how is it that there was never any reference to this project going on [prior to my stepping down a year ago]?” Boyer wonders. “What efforts were made to communicate? What efforts were made to keep people up to date and informed of potential threats? This was a pretty major project. Who was being kept abreast of its development?” she asks.

Boyer says town employees have been unable to find a single communication that refers to the reassessments, nor a single communication warning that the town might lose more than a quarter of its revenues in 2009 prior to a December 5 meeting. That is to say that until three weeks before the end of the calendar year, there was no communication from the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities (which requested the assessments); no communication from the Ministry of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations (which issues the property assessment roles every January); and no communication from the Property Valuation Services Corporation (which conducted the reassessments).

Boyer adds that the town has since asked that any letters or emails referring to the reassessment or potential threats be resent, because they were never received or could not be found. So far, no-one has responded to that request.

Similarly, Mayor Roberts says that requests for documents detailing consultant reports that form the basis of the plant’s impressive devaluation or explaining how the new value was calculated have met with “a resounding silence.”

ALLIES NEEDED TO SURVIVE

Nonetheless, at a recent public information session and a Committee of the Whole meeting at town hall, councillors repeatedly stressed that the town’s interest is to seek “fairness not revenge,” in the words of Deputy Mayor Jane DeWolfe.

Roberts underlined that assigning blame is not a primary concern. “I am puzzled why we were not previously informed, but we do not want to be accusatory. We are not going to find allies [to work toward a positive outcome] by being hostile,” he said.

Hopefully, answers to the numerous outstanding question will begin to flow soon. Today, January 15, Boyer and Roberts will participate in a conference call with the District of Queens and Trenton, which both stand to lose significant revenues in 2009 thanks to the reassessments. “Our goal is to identify common ground before our [tomorrow’s] meeting with the UNSM.”

On Friday, Jan. 16, the three municipalities will meet face-to-face with executive staff and members of the UNSM. “We hope to get some answers to lingering questions, of course,” says Roberts. “But above all, we would want to come away with a (UNSM) commitment to work with us, to cooperate with us in approaching the province to find a suitable solution to this situation by whatever means possible.”

The January 16 meeting is actually a do-over of a December meeting which was canceled due to snow. Lloyd Hines, UNSM president, had called that meeting for December 11, immediately following the December 5 revelation that these three municipalities were imperiled.

STORIES STRAIGHT

It is perhaps wise for the three “losers” to get their stories straight, because the UNSM finds itself in something of a tight spot: One, it made the initial request for reassessment. Two, it controls the board which governs the PVSC assessors that conducted the assessment. And, three, it also has to fight for the interests of the five municipalities that stand to win thanks to the reassessments, as well as the dozens of municipalities that stand to lose if the province halts or scales back either the equalization program or the HST offset program currently funded out of the NSPI grant in lieu of taxes.

For example, one of the most viable solutions suggested so far would be for the province to decide to phase in the decrease over a number of years in order to cushion the blow. How will the UNSM justify fighting for that solution, however, to the municipalities, such as Victoria County which stands to earn an extra $1 million next year? * * * * *

Other stories on this subject: (Jan. 13) Annapolis Royal working without NSPI information, Link: http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-291544-Annapolis-Royal-working-without-NSPI-information.html (Jan. 13) AR planning for eventualities, Link: http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-291548-AR-planning-for-eventualities.html (Jan. 8) Annapolis Royal citizens laugh in face of adversity, Link: http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-289978-Annapolis-Royal-citizens-laugh-in-face-of-adversity.html (Dec. 18) Municipalities and province disagree on Nova Scotia Power property taxes, Link: http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-284987-Municipalities-and-province-disagree-on-Nova-Scotia-Power-property-taxes.html (Dec. 10) Tidal Plant value fluctuates, “Catastrophic” for Annapolis Royal, Link: http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-282522-UPDATE-Tidal-Plant-value-fluctuates-Catastrophic-for-Annapolis-Royal.html (Dec. 8) Annapolis Royal to lose $735 000 in annual revenues, Link: http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-281434-Update-Annapolis-Royal-to-lose-735-000-in-annual-revenues.html