A proposal will be brought before city council at the Monday, Jan. 26 meeting, for Weyburn to adopt a base tax which its proponent says will make the property tax system fairer.

The idea of the base tax is to first take the cost of essential services that everybody in the community receives, regardless of the property, including fire and police services, and transportation-related services such as snow plowing and street repairs and maintenance. This cost is then divided up amongst all properties, and the base tax is then determined.

For Weyburn, that base tax is currently estimated at $400. Other communities in Saskatchewan have a base tax, and their tax levels range from $300 in Swift Current to $550 in Yorkton.

The base tax is not to replace property tax, although it does replace a portion of it; the city then determines how much over and above the base tax is required for that year's budget, and this is added, along with the school tax, to which the base tax does not apply.

For the councillor who introduced his notice of motion for the base tax, Rob Stephanson, the bottom line is fairness, in that these core essential services are provided to all, therefore all should pay regardless of who they are, residential or commercial.

The reality is, when the base tax is worked out at its full $400 level, fairness is in the eye of the beholder, so to speak. For the purpose mentioned by Coun. Stephanson, to cover essential services as a per capita cost, it's fair in that the tax doesn't discriminate between one property owner and another.

The way the tax works out, however, is another story. Basically those with a lower-valued property, likely owned by those with a lower income, they will not see any savings, but an increase in their tax. Those with higher-valued properties will actually see a decrease.

How is this fair, to charge more to those who already have a lower income, and lower the cost to those on the other end of the scale? The effect will be the same in the commercial sector as the residential one.

One of the points made by Coun. Stephanson is that under the old system, whenever there was a tax hike, some paid more of an increase, and more taxes overall, than others for getting exactly the same level of services. Therein lies the rationale of fairness: all residents are under the same umbrella of protection when a crime is committed and investigated, or a fire breaks out and the fire department has to respond to lives and properties from further damage.

Perhaps the flaw in making this system "fair" then rests with how the balance of the taxes are calculated. The idea of a base tax certainly has merit, as does the idea of phasing it in; eight years of phase-in with $50 increments might be a bit much, but the idea is not to hit taxpayers with a major change overnight. A base tax should also ensure the essential services of a community won't be hurt, but maintained, for the good of all. - G.N.