Editor:
Got my tax notice. At the rate the District of Sechelt has raised, and will no doubt continue to raise taxes, low-income seniors like myself will be forced from our homes.
The May 12 issue of Coast Reporter said: “An average homeowner in Sechelt with a house connected to sewer will pay about $230 more in fees and taxes this year to fund the district’s portion of their tax bill. Homeowners with houses not connected to sewer will pay about $90 more.”
So why, then, did my taxes go up almost $400? For a modest bungalow, not connected to sewer, two small bedrooms, one bathroom, no basement, no interior renovations? It went up 42 per cent. Isn’t that a bit steep?
Any senior can get the “seniors grant” even if their house is worth way over a million bucks. There needs to be another grant for low-income seniors. I’m trying to get by on just over $1,000 a month in total from CPP, OAS and GIS, supplemented by my dwindling savings. It doesn’t work very well. Everything goes up, except apparently pensions. Yet Christy Clark can give herself a $300,000 bonus.
Sure, I could defer my taxes, but then when I die, my son will have to pay them back at the full tax amount, not being eligible for either grant. It’ll be some astronomical amount by then, so he’d have to sell the house. I was hoping to be able to give him my house as he certainly can’t afford to buy one in Vancouver, thanks to the government allowing people who don’t even live in this country to buy property here.
Something is wrong with this picture.
Cecilia Ohm-Eriksen, Sechelt
