Your Community. Your Business.
Combined sales tax will push Sarnians to shop in Port Huron
The Harmonized Sales Tax being rolled out by the Province this July is the wrong tax, at the wrong time. That's the view of Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley who bashed the combined Goods and Services and Provincial Sales Taxes in an address to the Rotary Club of Sarnia Bluewaterland.
"It's a tax on kids, it's a tax on consumers and we know from the Goods and Services Tax it will impact consumer confidence". When the Goods and Services Tax was introduced two decades ago it was a leading factor in the recession that followed, noted Bradley.
"It caused consumers to shop in the United States," and he predicts the HST will do the same. "It will create an underground economy because contractors and realtors will be squeezed."
While the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has been endorsing the tax saying it will save businesses money that will be passed on to consumers, Bradley isn't buying it.
"People who live in this community have an alternative and the only deterrent is Homeland Security."
Despite the economic chaos in other parts of the Province, Bradley says Sarnia is on a sound financial footing. "We've been able to diversify our industrial base and we continue to reign in our deficit," he told the Rotarians. He predicts the Western Ontario Research Park and Lambton College will bring in 1000 new jobs as they take the lead in industrial advancements and green technology.
And Bradley promises to keep the City's deficit under control. It is down to $52 million from $90 million and will be eliminated over the next eight to 10 years. He'd like to see some deficit controls in place but doesn't want to handcuff future Councils. "Some debt isn't bad but we have to have a method of providing a ceiling".
Bradley has been having discussions with his administration since the municipal budget was drafted in December. He expects there will be a recommendation on deficit control, possibly this spring.
February, 2010
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