News Release
Mayor Kelly Responds to Chamber Report
(Tuesday, February 12, 2008) - Earlier today, Mayor Peter J. Kelly and members of Regional Council attended the Halifax Chamber of Commerce 2008 Economic Strategy Scorecard Event and commented on HRM's Planning Process Timeline and Tax Reform initiatives, two of the actions which HRM has the lead responsibility to implement.
In October 2005, following the Halifax Chamber of Commerce 2004 Economic Summit, HRM Regional Council adopted the "Strategies for Success' Economic Strategy. The Strategy is owned by HRM, on behalf of the whole community. In its role as an advocate for business, the Chamber is responsible for reviewing and issuing the yearly results on the Scorecard and the collective progress to date.
Mayor Kelly said, " The Chamber's annual scorecard provides HRM with a valuable monitoring tool and we thank them for their important work. HRM's Planning Process Timeline and Tax Reform initiatives are two of those primary focus areas mentioned in the report."
HRM's Planning Services recently collected benchmark data from comparable cities across Canada. After review of the data, a number of recommendations are set to be presented to Regional Council.
Mayor Kelly said, "With the proposed changes to the planning application process, it is hoped we can achieve a 30% reduction in the average processing times for applications. This would reduce the average number of months required for a plan amendment to approximately 9 months, for a re-zoning to approximately 6 months, and for a development agreement to 8 months."
On the Tax Reform front, significant progress has been made after an extensive public meeting process held in the Spring of 2007.
"Through the Tax Reform public consultations, staff heard that residents are looking for a system that links municipal taxes more closely to municipal services, a persons ability to pay and encourages greater equity, stability and transparency", Mayor Kelly said.
In March, the Tax Reform Committee is expected to present its research to Regional Council and outline its proposals for the re-design of the property tax system for HRM. This will be followed by a series of public consultations.
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Contact:
Mayor Peter J. Kelly
490-4010
