Provincial tax reform for municipalities

The Telegraph Journal published an article today about the Province of New Brunswick’s proposed municipal tax reforms.

At first glance the reforms seem like they could force municipalities to be more prudent with spending.

If the article is accurate (inaccuracy is now a fire-able offence at the TJ now) and I’m reading it right the proposal is as follows:

• Assessment methodology will not change [I hope they speed up bringing property assessments in line with market value, which is intended in the act]
• The province will not let cities maintain the current tax rate and reap a windfall that is unearned; specifically cities can’t maintain property taxes rates at the same level to receive more revenue that isn’t explained by inflation [hopefully based on real estate markets, rather than CPI - though bring assessments in line with market value will handle this] and new assessments (from construction and the like)
• Any tax rate changes that are counter to the new cost-controlling policy (described above) will have to be voted on by citizens

I think this reform should be coupled with the municipal boundary reforms the province has shelved could really put pressure on municipalities to spend wisely and be accountable to citizens.