Public Office Is Service, Not a Job

A recent editorial I read argued that public office "must be viewed as a job" because of the workload and the importance of the decisions involved. I respectfully disagree.

Public office certainly involves work, and its decisions can be far-reaching. Serving in public office also requires commitment, preparation, and sound judgment. Agenda packages can be lengthy, meetings frequent, and the responsibility significant. But none of those things makes the role a job.

Many members of our community volunteer on boards and committees that demand substantial preparation, careful deliberation, and responsible governance. Some serve as chairs or directors while balancing careers and family commitments. The principles of good governance apply equally in those settings.

The longer I have served on Council, the more I have come to regard the role not as a job or career, but as public service. While councillors are compensated for their time, the motivation should be something more than employment. They are entrusted by their neighbours to exercise sound judgment and act in the community's best interests.

Integrity, professionalism, accountability, and diligence are essential. But those qualities define good public service, not merely a job. Communities are best served when those seeking public office do so because they want to serve—not because they are looking for employment.

Workload does not determine the nature of public office. Purpose does. That distinction is an important filter when discerning whom to support.

Volunteering at The Gleaners, with Abbotsford Youth Commission members.

Development in Abbotsford

 

Tax Rates

Tax Rates are Multipliers – Nothing More!

There are those who erroneously believe that a higher tax rate equals more taxes paid. That is simply incorrect. The plain truth is that tax rate is simply a multiplier. Each year, after Council sets the budget for the upcoming year, finance staff takes the combined assessed value of all properties in the municipality and divides the required revenue, as set by the budget, by total assessed property values, and arrives at a “Tax Rate”. It should also be noted that different rates are set for each of the tax classes (such as business or farm).

A good example to illustrate the flaw in using Rate as a comparator between municipalities would be a comparison between West Vancouver (the most expensive real estate in the province) and Cache Creek. I am using figures by the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, 2018, and based on a “Representative House”.

The logic put forward by those who use Tax Rate as a comparator will be hard-pressed to explain the following, based on the 2018 provincial stats:

Tax Rate                                                                                Municipality

                26.9                                                        -                              Abbotsford

                32.0                                                        -                              Chilliwack

    27.0                                                        -                              Cache Creek

                25.7                                                        -                              Chase

                131.65                                                   -                              Colwood

                59.0                                                        -                              Gold River

                87.0                                                        -                              Lumby

                7.0                                                          -                              Whistler

                7.38                                                        -                              West Vancouver

These names should be familiar to most, and most will also recognize that some of these represent very small rural communities, however, according to one blogger, Whistler and West Vancouver are to be held up as most desirable in the province with respect to property taxes, because they have the lowest rates.

The blogger in question argues that Abbotsford has the highest taxes, however, his argument on Tax Rate contradicts his position. Simply put, “Tax Rate” is a multiplier – nothing more; nothing less. Following the rationale of those who put Rate forward as a realistic comparator, Lumby, Cache Creek, and Gold River taxpayers would be much worse off than those from West Vancouver. Apart from the erroneous "Tax Rate" argument, the graph and table at the bottom quickly dispel the notion of Abbotsford's taxes being the highest.

The following graph and table are based on latest data provided by the provincial government, and clearly, Abbotsford does not have the highest taxes.The bar graph refers to cities over 35,000 population.

This table orders all our neighbouring municipalities, regardless of size, from highest to lowest in terms of "Total Property Taxes and Charges".