In part 2 of the HFX Votes 2024 episode on property taxes I sat down with Darrell Dexter, the former premier of Nova Scotia to ask him about why we have a property tax cap in the first place. This conversation went off the rails almost immediately in the best possible way. Dexter explains that the property tax cap is doing its job, protecting people from being gouged by the market. 

Dexter makes the case that if a city needs money then it’s incumbent on councillors to use the other tools at their disposal to make their budget make sense. As part of this discussion, Dexter also talked about the philosophy behind policy-making and how to anticipate outcomes.  

After thinking about this conversation over the Canada Day weekend there I have my first question for The Coast’s I now have that will continue to inform my municipal coverage: 

If the city needs money, which we do, if you (candidate) want to freeze or lower property taxes, then what revenue tools will you be using to cover the shortfall of lowered or frozen taxes?