The City of Weyburn will begin paying for its essential services via a $400 base tax on residential properties starting on Jan. 1, 2005, after the controversial proposal received unanimous support by city council on Monday night.

In spite of vocal opposition to the proposal at both its public meetings, and a last-minute appeal to council on Monday from a representative of the Community Low Income Centre, the proposal was approved, with councillor after councillor acknowledging "there will be winners and losers" as a result.

The $400 base tax will apply across the board to all properties to pay for police and fire protection, and for transportation services, which includes street maintenance, snow plowing, street cleaning and so on.

"After a lot of listening and observing, I've come to the conclusion Weyburn needs to have a base tax. I'm aware there will be winners and losers. It boils down to fairness and equity," said Coun. Bill Rudachyk, the first councillor to speak in favour of the tax. "Is it fair for some people to pay as little as $50 for police and fire protection and street maintenance, while others pay $1,200 to $1,600 for the very same service?"

Prior to the vote, Fred Sandeski tried appealing to the councillors to reconsider implementing such a tax, noting the only ones who will see an increase in taxes will be those owning lower-valued properties, while higher-end property owners will get a break.

"This base tax needs to be objective-driven. What are we trying to achieve with this tax? The $400 starting point is one of the highest in the province. I find that kind of odd for a starting place," he said, asking council why they never considered alternatives, such as a minimum tax.

Sandeski said to implement a tax like this will just be rubbing people's noses into the fact they are low-income wage earners.

Following the meeting, city manager Bob Smith pointed out that council did in fact look at other alternatives like minimum tax, but felt it wouldn't have enough of an effect like a base tax will

Answering Sandeski in part, Coun. Ray Hamm said the objective of the base tax is to reduce the vast difference between lower and higher assessed properties, which he said "is approaching ridiculousness, and to continue is to exacerbate the situation. Any new approach will produce losers and winners. In the past council made changes that benefit the greater community. That's why we're going to set the tax on the cost of essential services. A minimum tax doesn't do that."

Coun. Gary Frederickson added his voice in favour of the tax.

"I think it's unfortunate a lot of the discussion has centred around the two extremes on the tax rolls," he said, adding, "Property tax was never set up as a social safety net."

Addressing the concern that the base tax might turn out to be a tax grab in future years, he said, "It's not our intent to see this grow to $800. We're going to make damn sure that doesn't happen."

Coun. Dick Michel said after talking to many residents in the community, his greatest concern is that council must control its spending in the future to ensure there will be no need to raise the base tax further.

"I do agree it's a fairness issue," added Coun. Rob Stephanson. "Everybody receives the essential services and should pay for them. People don't understand why some people pay $4-5,000 (in taxes) and there are those who only pay $4-500."

He agreed the base tax will not increase, saying, "This is revenue neutral and is not going to create a big spending spree."

Coun. Bill McKenzie said he struggled with this issue but in the end supports the base tax because it covers the cost of basic services like police and fire protection, which everyone receives, along with street maintenance services.

Mayor Don Schlosser commented that about half of those properties on the lower end are owned by landlords.

"I am one of those. I'm going to be hit by about $2,200 more, but I feel it's only fair. We looked at a minimum tax, but I feel this is the way to go," he said.

He noted council has been asked why the base tax will only apply to residential properties and not commercial ones, and said the mill rate for commercial properties is completely different, and is about 33 per cent more than for residential properties. The mayor also noted 2005 is a new assessment year by the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA), and said high-end properties are going to get hit by that process.

Of the 3,380 properties in the City of Weyburn, 2,968 have improvements and will be subject to the base tax; of that number, 1,414 will see an increase in their municipal tax bill, while 1,554 will see their municipal taxes decrease. Those seeing an increase are for homes with a taxable assessment of $50,000 or less, while those with an assessment of $60,000 and up will get a break.

In other council business:

· Weyburn Minor Hockey requested exemptions for their upcoming tournaments this season, along with exemptions for some league games; council would not grant exemptions for the league games as the Sunday morning sports bylaw does not give them authority to do so. The letter from Minor Hockey said the association "is in pursuit of having the Sunday morning sports bylaw challenged to accommodate our severe shortage of ice allocation."

· A complaint about a city police officer was sent by the police commission to the provincial commission, and action was recommended, said Coun. Rudachyk; Police Chief Rod Horsman said the matter is being looked into by an investigator from Regina. He said the matter would not result in criminal charges, but possibly charges under the Highway Traffic Act. The details may be made public after the investigation is complete, he added.

· The Weyburn Police Association asked the police commission when they would return to the bargaining table; Coun. Rudachyk said they would provided the association will accept the offer of three per cent a year.

· The Weyburn Oil Show Board has paid a total of $300,000 towards improvements of the fair grounds over the years, said Mayor Schlosser; the board agreed this year to contribute $10,000 towards the improved sound system in the Colosseum, and $7,000 towards paving on the fair grounds. For the 2005 Oil Show, the Colosseum is 56 per cent booked, the Sports Arena is 50 per cent booked, and 63 per cent of the outdoor booth spaces are booked.