Spoiler: I'm going to talk about all the ways we can spend the $15 Million more one candidate has promised to give the CBRM.

People who live in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality have been learning more about the Equalization program lately. In short, the Federal Government provides about $1.8 Billion to the province, and the province gives the CBRM just $15 Million of it. 

Since that program is supposed to ensure we get reasonably comparable services for reasonably comparable levels of taxation, anyone that knows how high our tax rates are, and how badly our municipality is struggling, knows that this is not being met. As such, you get a range of opinions on how much more is due to us, and the NSEF group suggests it may be hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

PC leadership candidate Tim Houston supports increasing Equalization too, and he contrasts sharply with his fellow candidate (and CBRM mayor) Cecil Clarke. Houston says he'll give us $15 Million more a year as soon as he's elected as Premier. Cecil Clarke, as difficult as it may be to imagine, says he wants to abolish Equalization. Yes, he really says that. Councillor Coombes expressed her concern at a recent Equalization meeting.



However, what I want to explore is what the $15 Million extra cash that Houston is offering to provide the CBRM with would actually do for us.

The main source of money that keeps our local government delivering our services is property tax revenue. As the pie chart above shows you, of all of the property tax the CBRM collects, 62.3% of it is from residential taxes.

There are many ways to spend the additional $15 Million Houston offers. But let's think about what it would do for housing taxes if that is how the CBRM chose to apply it entirely that way. Here's the answer:

If the CBRM applied the extra $15 Million Houston sent to us to reduce housing taxes, every person who owns a home here would pay 21% less per year.

Depending on how much your home is valued at, that can be considerable savings and more disposable income for you to use to pay down other debt or spend it in our local economy.

If we instead decided to apply that $15 Million Houston says he will provide the CBRM, commercial taxes could be reduced by 46%.

As you can imagine, cutting business property taxes almost in half could have a significant impact on people investing here, and could even reduce the leasing fees when new businesses rent spaces. Essentially, it's one way to create a more pro-business, pro-jobs environment.

However, the CBRM Council may have other priorities. Let's examine some other alternatives on how the funding could be utilized.

What if we invested it in roads instead?
If we invested the full $15 Million into our road repair budget, the CBRM would match the highest road repair budget we've had in our history ... every year. That's based on Mayor Clarke's claim a few years back when around $18 Million was invested and he said that was the biggest year ever. The budget for 2018-2019 is one of the worst, so we definitely need more cash to invest in roads.

What would it mean for our major projects?
Well, for perspective, that $15 Million could pay our share of the funding for the second cruise ship berth, the Bayplex, and we'd still have another $5 Million or so left over to invest into the new library... all in a single year... with $15 Million more coming the next year, and the next year after that.

There's even better news. Based on how we typically split the cost of major projects three ways with the province and the Federal government, we could do up to $45 Million worth of special projects every year with this new $15 Million in cash available to us.

What if we used it to pay down our debt?
If we put it all against our long-term debt, over four years we'd have $60 Million and would likely completely eliminate our debt in that timeframe.

What if we used it for the Sustainability Fund where community groups make financial requests?
At present time, it would appear that every eligible community request could be fully funded if we had that $15 Million, with over $10 Million left over to spend in other ways.

What would it mean for firefighters?
It means we would have the resources to invest in the equipment they need. The volunteer firefighters could spend less time with endless fundraisers to try to sustain their department, and they could focus on training and keeping our community safe - and themselves safe while doing so with proper equipment.

What would the $15 Million really be used for?
The key thing to understand with the provincial Equalization transfer is that it is money for which the municipality is free to make fast and flexible decisions on how it is spent, according to our needs. The most likely way that this money would be spent is a combination of all of the above, and changing in proportion from year to year depending on how our needs change. If invested wisely, we could actually help spark growth in our tax base. When people start building homes and businesses again, that's what happens.

Council, the next mayor, our CAO, and local citizens may have different ideas about how these new funds can be used.

How would YOU allocate the extra $15 Million Tim Houston has pledged?

There are many different ways the money may be put to use for us. You may have different priorities entirely from those areas I indicated above. Or you may decide to start allocating the money to different areas. In fact, that's the most likely scenario for our CBRM Council.

Tell me below in the comments how you would recommend spending the $15 Million.

Why is Tim Houston getting so much attention in the CBRM?

Some people are buzzing about Tim Houston because they are Progressive Conservative Party supporters, they like him, and they are impressed by how much support and endorsements he has from senior level PC party members, including many of his fellow PC MLAs. Some believe he's the leader in innovative ideas like his plan to keep young Nova Scotians from leaving the province by creating a big tax incentive for them to stay and earn more.

But many others, myself included, are very optimistic and focused on Tim Houston as the PC party leader because he has offered to send $15 Million more to the CBRM in increased Provincial Equalization payments.

Those who know about the topic are aware that Mayor Clarke has always opposed Equalization going right back to battling CBRM Mayor John Morgan when Morgan tried to get more for us.

For them, Cecil Clarke would not be a wise option. I sincerely agree.

The idea of Cecil Clarke as PC leader becomes even less desirable when people find out that he now says that he would abolish the Equalization funding and let the province decide how we get to spend whatever amount they put aside for us.

Clarke says he'll do something different, but he's not clear on just what he'd do, and he's not offering more cash. That's not a very good offer for the CBRM and it could be very bad news for us if he somehow was elected as Premier of Nova Scotia. If Liberal support continues to decline, a minority government could be possible for him.

What can you do to help?
Even if you're not sure if you would consider voting for PC in the next provincial election, you can still have a say this year in who gets to lead that party.

If Tim Houston secures the leadership, two things happen:

1. We face no risk of Cecil Clarke becoming Premier and then abolishing Equalization, and
2. We have an opportunity that if Tim Houston became Premier, and follows through on his commitment, we will receive that $15 Million more that we just talked about how to spend right here in the CBRM.

You might even think that it's possible you may vote Liberal or NDP. That's ok. You can also have a say in which candidate will be the PC leader. And, if they do win, even if you don't end up voting for them later in the provincial election, at least you'll have a chance to help choose your preference among them.

If you think the Tim Houston offer of $15 Million more for the CBRM is the best option, you have less than 30 days now to get a $10 PC membership and cast your vote for him by mail-in ballot in October 2018

If you wait too long, you'll miss the registration and won't be able to support Houston or the $15 Million pledge. Before you forget, sign up.

Remember, people get to vote across the entire province. If you have family members in other areas of the province, chat with them about why you like Tim Houston and ask them to get a membership. By the way... it's not just $15 Million for the CBRM. He says he's doubling Equalization for every municipality in the province that is eligible.

NOTE: The views expressed above are my own and do not represent lokol (goCapeBreton.com). Read more