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The complexity of taxation

I was intrigued to read the responses in the letters to the editor regarding the issue of tax increases in Chilliwack.

I was intrigued to read the responses in the letters to the editor regarding the issue of tax increases in Chilliwack (Chilliwack Progress, March 14).  What are factors which influence an increase in taxes?  There are a number.  The primary one is the ever increase of cost of services such as water maintenance (don’t get me started), infrastructure repair, policing, etc.  These factors are generally speaking charged by independent businesses who themselves see their incomes needing a boost.

The other side of the coin is government itself.  On one hand we have a provincial government touting their low personal income tax, and yet the increases in government fees to most families over the last several years have been astronomical while many of us have seen little in the way of pay increase.  In fact, using the current economical slow down as a raison d’etre some of us have actually seen a decrease in our pay.

To the gentleman whose 1991 vehicle was the basis of comparison, my 1989 beats yours any day!  Our last increase in minimum wage brought us from the middle of the road where a provincial comparison is concerned, but of course did not in any way address the cost of living in the most salubrious location in Canada. Granted, we live in a province that many in Canada would love to live in.  The price we pay for housing in B.C. is a clear indicator of that. Like everything else, if there were no buyers the price would decrease.

I could move to somewhere where the costs are cheaper, but finally I moved here from Quebec because I preferred the climate and scenery.  I loved the people in Quebec, I grew up in Ontario but I choose to live in B.C.

Kirsten Hauge