Taxes and pitch forks

If it's action you crave, you likely won't find it at city hall.

Don't get me wrong, council makes hundreds of important decisions a year from inside chambers. The work at St. Albert Place keeps our roads in good order, and city programs operating.

But when it comes to thrills and spills, the polite parliamentary proceedings at city hall will not exactly jolt spectators from their seats.

Of course, St. Albert has had its share of hot-button issues. Emotions flared last spring during rezoning hearings for Amacon's proposed redevelopment of Grandin Park Plaza.

The spring also saw the plaza in front of St. Albert Place turn into a stomping ground for fed up taxpayers who petitioned steep increases driven by haywire changes in property values.

There was plenty of backlash about Servus Place's $2.2-million deficit last year. The Gazette received angry letters blasting council and administration for poor oversight. But when the public had an opportunity to sound off at a town hall meeting, all but a few choice criticisms were levelled. Measured emotions and well-meaning suggestions ruled the day.

Word has it a few f-bombs were thrown council's way at a recent budget open house at St. Albert Centre. But that incident aside, no one at the Gazette remembers a time when accusations of a "dictatorial rule" were hurled the mayor's way.

Through all the ups and downs, cheering and hissing from the public has, for the most part, stayed in check during St. Albert council business.  Credit for the decorum goes to the mayor, both present and past, along with residents who usually stop themselves at "mild" finger pointing.

As the Calgary Herald reported in the above link, that was not the case in southern Alberta over the weekend. Tempers were in overdrive over a proposed 25 per cent property tax hike over three years.

The griping was not limited to the public, with Calgary Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart leading a petition to return to single-year budgeting.

The petition and extreme insults aside, it sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Just one month ago St. Albert residents were looking at a 28 per cent tax hike compounded over three years. After much debate, council opted only to look at 2009 an a proposed 8.97 per cent tax hike.

The decision was partly driven by the shifting economic landscape. However, as Coun. Roger Lemieux astutely observed, it doesn't look good to go to the public with three years of tax increases exceeding 25 per cent.

Who knows the kind of public reaction that might have ensued had council gone ahead with its three-year budget.

St. Albert and Calgary are two completely different cities, but they, like all places have something in common. When taxpayers are pushed far enough, long enough, some are bound to push back.