Wages not keeping pace with rising cost of living in Regina

Proposed property tax, water and sewer cost increases in the City of Regina budget are only a few examples of how expensive it is getting for people to call Regina home.

The list of proposed increases includes $108 this year in property taxes for the average homeowner, $120 for water and sewer (eight per cent) and, depending on the type of vehicle you drive and your driving record, as much as $49 more for auto insurance with SGI.

Adding to this, SaskPower increased rates on Dec. 31 by $60. All of these proposed and actual increases add up to $337 this year.

But there could be more.

If inflation continues to rise in 2014 as it did last year (by 2.5 per cent), Reginans could be paying more for goods and services.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is also projecting that the average price of homes could increase this year by 2.9 per cent to $321,500 and rent for a two-bedroom unit by $32 to $1,050 a month.

"More money out the door and I'm not sure where it's supposed to come from," said Angelica Barth, chair of the Queen City Tenants Association.

Barth suspects that the proposed increase in water and sewer rates will get passed on to apartment tenants - either directly or through increases in rent.

Barth said these rate increases could force more lower income residents to access some of the city's social resources, such as food banks and shelters.

"I guess it means more cutting in other areas. Maybe more people going to Souls Harbour (Rescue Mission), more people relying on other services and other people for the basics of what can be had," she said.

"It just puts pressure on those services that provide goods that we could otherwise pay for if costs were to be more equitable and wages were to be higher," said Barth.

In August, the Hay Group, a global management consulting firm, predicted that average salaries in Regina could increase by 3.2 per cent this year.

Even so, Canadian Taxpayers Federation's Colin Craig argues that increases in salaries are not keeping pace with the rising cost of living in Regina.

"One of the concerns that we have is that you have taxes and fees going up faster than people's paycheques. If someone's paycheque is going up by two or three per cent and their water and sewer is going up by eight per cent and property tax going up by seven per cent, then those people are going to have to cut back in other areas of spending," he said.

In terms of the city's proposed increases, Craig said it is fair for municipalities to pay for infrastructure through taxes. But in this case, he doesn't think city council has done enough work to find other ways of controlling costs "rather than simply passing tax increases onto the tax payers."

Craig argues that based on his discussions with the city, it doesn't take into account people's salaries when proposing to raise taxes. He suggests that the city could find savings if, for example, it scaled back the civic pension plan.

Original Article
Source: leaderpost.com/
Author:  TERRENCE MCEACHERN