Jim Watson’s tax pledge to keep property tax increases capped at two per cent a year is a bit more flexible this time around.
As he seeks re-election, Watson said Sunday he’d be willing to increase taxes as high as 3 per cent, if need be, and pledged some of the extra money would go to roads and other infrastructure costs.
But that might not be everything it’ll pay for.
Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA’s News and Views with Rob Snow, the incumbent mayor said that the upcoming legalization of cannabis could be costly.
“Our staff estimate about eight million dollars is required for all of the inspectors, by-law, police costs, roadside checks and so on. That money has to come from somewhere,” he said.
He also said there may be funding from the Province and the federal government to help police tackle gun violence. The Ontario government pledged $25 million to battle gun crime in Toronto and Watson said local MPP Lisa MacLeod and Premier Doug Ford have assured him there would be funding for Ottawa as well.
But nothing is confirmed, so Watson said he felt it wise to have financial flexibility in case the City finds itself absorbing more of the costs of the new cannabis regime.
“I think we need to have that capacity in the budget to pay for these things and if we get reimbursed, then that’s great, we can have a lower tax rate,” he said. “But I don’t think it would be prudent for us to not budget for dollars and find ourselves in a terrible situation where a lot of resources for the police are going to dealing with illegal pot shops and the like.”
Watson says it’s unknown how much money Ottawa will get from the Province to cover cannabis costs.
“It’s 40 million dollars for the whole province, spread over two years. With 444 municipalities, that may results in less than a million dollars for the City of Ottawa,” he said. “We have to continue to negotiate because in the first couple of years there’s no revenue sharing with the municipalities.”
Cannabis becomes legal in Canada on Wednesday.
