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Taxpayers can't take it anymore

Remember the old saying "the straw that broke the camel's back" - what did it mean? It's the final limit of capacity, including patience.An Arabian anecdote told of a camel whose owner loaded the beast of burden with as much straw as possible.
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Remember the old saying "the straw that broke the camel's back" - what did it mean?

It's the final limit of capacity, including patience.An Arabian anecdote told of a camel whose owner loaded the beast of burden with as much straw as possible. Not satisfied with the staggering load he had put on the camel, the owner added just one more piece of straw.Even that one wisp was too much and the animal collapsed with a broken back, leaving the owner with no way to take his goods to market.The story is a parable for all the times you've been repeatedly irked until you can't take it anymore and you explode.

If we substitutegovernment taxes and charges from entities like B.C. Hydro and ICBC and companies whose rates are controlled by the B.C. Utilities Commission for the straw loaded onthe camel, we can see very quickly where we are at and what the outcome of increased taxes, utility charges, and general increases for various and sundry items, will be.

The city has announced a possible five per cent increase in taxes for 2019 and the mayor and city council directed staff to develop a three and four per cent scenario to see what that would look like. So the scenario is a five per cent, four per cent or three per cent increase.Seems the city has a very restricted vocabulary and seems not to have the words "no increase" or "a decrease in taxes" in their vocabulary.

No increases or a tax decrease is in fact a very viable and important factor when you look at the burden that taxpayers are presently packing.

B.C. Hydro increases were four per cent in 2016, 3.5 per cent in 2017, 3.5 per cent this year and possibly another three per cent increase in 2019.

Fortis Gas gave a six per cent decrease in 2018 or approximately $45 per year per household.However they are now talking about an increase in 2019 that will amount to $68 per year on average.

ICBC is looking to increase rates by 6.3 per cent.

There appears to be no connection between the increase in taxes by government, ICBC,B.C. Hydro, Fortis,businesses etc., all hell bent on increases with absolutely no concern as to whether or not citizens are able to pay these increases.

Hydro does make some allowances for lower income people, however this just means other citizens have to pay more.Most people in Prince George will not get any increases in their wages to cover these additional costs.

So in my opinion the time of blindly increasing taxes, utility costs and the price of goods for no other reason than that's what we do every year has to stop.

It's time for our elected representatives and staff to take the responsibility to stop these increases, increase production, reduce costs and basically become fiscally responsible.

Our mayor and new city council have four years to make a difference.Let's start now and see what can be done.

Eric Allen

Prince George