Taxes Residential property taxes were a huge issue in the first decade of this century, when the housing market was overheated and assessments were going up 20 percent and more in some neighbourhoods. Through that period, council didn’t raise the tax rate, but because of the soaring assessments, the actual tax bill went up hugely […]
Garbage policy, sidewalk cafes, bike lane: Council recap, September 23, 2014 meeting
Yesterday’s meeting of Halifax council involved a lot of wide-ranging conversation and debate, which often raises the ire of people who think that the less discussion the better. But I think we all benefit from longer discussion of issues. But unfortunately it’s late in the day, so I’ll make this a quick and short recap...
Khyber is saved, craven politicians, chimineaing while drunk: Council recap, September 9, 2014 meeting
The Khyber is saved Without warning, this summer city staff put The Khyber on the list of surplus properties, which is a relatively new process meant to identify and sell off properties the city no longer needs or are deemed to expensive to keep. The staff report gave little in the way of details. The...
Hell-bent on development, Canada Post, and E-voting: council recap, August 5, 2014 meeting
Tuesday’s council meeting proceeded more or less as I predicted in the council preview, with the following exceptions and issues of note: Hell-bent on development Boy was I ever wrong. Monday, I predicted that council would concur with a staff recommendation to deny the development of a seven-storey, 75-unit apartment building on the old St. Theresa...
The Forum is saved: City council recap, July 29, 2014 meeting
The take away news from yesterday’s council meeting is that the Forum and Centennial Arenas were saved, a new Dartmouth 4-pad arena will be constructed, and four other single ice pad arenas will be closed: Lebrun, Devonshire, Gray, and Bowles. But before getting into those specifics, the whys and the wherefores, let’s step back and...
Developer fees and unwarranted secrecy: Halifax council recap, July 22, 2014 meeting
Tuesday’s council meeting was lengthy, going long into the evening. Most of the items were resolved as expected, and as I outlined Monday in the council preview. The exceptions and additions are below. Developer fees Council discussed the “Capital Cost Contributions”—CCCs for short, which are fees to be charged to developers—for about two hours. The...