Saint John Chamber ‘Relatively Pleased’ With N.B. Budget
SAINT JOHN–‘Relatively pleased’ is how the Saint John Region Chamber describes the Higgs government’s budget.
Chamber CEO David Duplisea said the planned reduction of ‘the double tax’ on secondary properties in particular was something the chamber had lobbied hard for.
Tuesday’s budget outlined a long-planned, 50 percent provincial property tax rate reduction for non-owner-occupied residential properties, (including apartment buildings and other rental properties) which would be phased in over three years, beginning with the current property taxation year.
“We would have liked to see that completely eliminated but, at least it’s going in the right direction,” Duplisea said.
Two years ago, the government proposed the same reduction to the provincial property tax rate for non-residential properties but those measures did not proceed due to fiscal uncertainties amid Covid-19.
In his speech delivering the budget Tuesday, Finance Minister Ernie Steeves said the government hopes the initiative will support the development of additional units in the province while providing tax relief to landlords who have had to raise rents amid higher prices and demand across the housing market.
Overall, Duplisea said it’s nice to see the provincial government in a surplus position, even with increased spending.
He said the Chamber has always asked the province to strategically align their spending for the best outcomes and to address challenges in the business sector.
“We were pleased to see in the narrative on the budget there was an acknowledgement that strategically spending the funding was very much top of mind when going through this budget,” Duplisea said.
Duplisea said infrastructure spending tends to get people working.
“We were pleased to see the infrastructure spending was fairly significant between healthcare, roads and buildings and that all contributes to an environment that is fairly healthy from a business perspective,” Duplisea said.
Provincial Finance Minister Ernie Steeves will speak at a Chamber luncheon in Saint John on Monday, March 28th, it will be the first in-person lunch event the Chamber has hosted since the beginning of the pandemic.
Tamara Steele is a reporter with CHSJ/Country 94, Huddle content partners.