Editor:
Re: South Delta should separate and elect politicians that will listen, letter to the editor, Sept. 5
Greg Hoover makes a compelling case for South Delta's separation from North Delta, but there may be a downside.
Consider how political separation of Delta's North and South would likely evolve. In every relevant planning category Metro Vancouver's Regional Growth Strategy lumps North Delta, Annacis and Tilbury in with Surrey. Only by municipal boundary are they associated with South Delta.
North Deltans now pay a residential property tax rate of $3.374 per $1,000 of assessed value. Surrey's rate is only $2.355. If Delta were to split up, North Deltans would be fools to not join Surrey along with Annacis and Tilbury. South Delta would inherit the Corporation of Delta.
Delta's population would have been cut in half and it would have lost almost its entire industrial tax base. Tsawwassen's residential property tax rate is $3.336 and Ladner's $3.311.
With little industrial property to tax, could political, management and other expenses, including 900 CUPE employees, be cut proportionately to hold the line on residential tax rates? Or would endless bureaucratic obstacles and excuses frustrate cost reduction, leaving us with residential tax rates of perhaps $6 per $1,000?
As Hoover convincingly states, there could be attractive benefits to separation from North Delta, but they might come at an unexpected and painful price. Separation to frustrate development could leave us seeking development to defray our property taxes.
Ed Ries
