Treasurer needs to own his mistake, not blame the MLIRD

The MLIRD tax assessments have finally been received and with them came an explanation of why they were not sent out on time. “Due to unresolved concerns regarding the process used by MLIRD to compute the amount of this assessment it was not possible to include this assessment in the original tax statement sent earlier this spring to the ratepayers.” That explanation is misleading because it seems to blame the MLIRD for the delay. The MLIRD has assessed the taxes the same way for several years and nothing changed this year. The problem is that the Treasurer has no say in how the tax is assessed; his job is simply to send the bill for the assessed tax and collect said tax. By failing to send out the MLIRD assessments with all the other property tax assessments, he has not only cost the people extra money in postage (and legal fees to force him to send the assessments), but also caused hardships to the taxpayers because most people have their mortgage company pay their property taxes and spread it out over the whole year’s mortgage payments. Most people will have to pay this assessment out of their regular budget. Not only did the Treasurer insert his opinion where he had no authority, but then he tried to lay the blame on the MLIRD. The MLIRD has released a statement with much more harsh language. This is just one example of discord involving the Treasurer’s office. It may be time for new leadership in the Treasurer’s office.

Casey Cooper

Moses Lake