Members of the Elliot Lake Waterfront Owners Association believe reductions in the urban surcharge unfairly boosts their tax rates when compared with other ratepayers.
A long-standing disagreement in Elliot Lake over how urban and rural properties are taxed came up during Monday night’s council meeting.
The controversy surrounds the Urban Service Area Tax Policy.
Council received a petition signed by 56 rural or waterfront property owners who believe reductions in the urban surcharge unfairly boosted their tax rates as compared with other ratepayers.
The surcharge recognizes some residences in the city are not in the urban area of the city and so they don’t receive the same services.
Originally, the higher surcharge increased taxes for those living in the urban area while decreasing them for rural areas, but this year, the rate was reduced from 20 per cent to 10.21 per cent.
Councillors decided to accept a plan to rebalance tax rates in the urban service area, which will mean other ratepayers will see an annual tax bill increase of about $20.
Council also will suggest to the incoming council elected this fall to deal with the issue as soon as possible.
