As taxes continue to skyrocket for farmers in Chatham-Kent, a member of the agricultural community hopes the municipality will stick with its promise to invest in bridges.
Chatham-Kent's Budget Chair Derek Robertson told BlackburnNewsCK.com that of the 2.27% tax hike that is being proposed right now, about 1.35% would be invested into infrastructure. He says this increase in infrastructure funding is part of the municipality’s 2017 Asset Management Plan, which focuses on the improvement of all infrastructure in the municipality, including roads, waterways, bridges, and culverts.
Louis Roesch, a director with the Kent Federation of Agriculture and director of District 1 for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, says this funding "doesn't mean anything if it doesn't get spent on the bridges where it's supposed to go."
"They're moving in the right direction we assume, but assumption and completion are two different things. The costs continue to go up, there's a lot of other bridges to cross the rivers and whatnot... and that's where part of that money goes," says Roesch."There's been a large increase in the land taxes themselves and we have had a commitment from the municipality that we wouldn't challenge that increase as long as it was directed mainly to bridges in the rural [area]."
Roesch says farmers have been hit with tax increases for the past six years.
"Since 2012, our tax base on bare farmland has gone up 170%," says Roesch.
He says the agricultural community has done its part to invest in infrastructure through those tax increases.
"That's our business, we need those roads and bridges. The road is no good to anybody if the bridge isn't usable," says Roesch." Nobody likes all our big equipment on the main thoroughfare roads, but we don't have a choice if the roads are closed."
Roesch says different infrastructure technologies need to be looked at and evaluated, as well.
"There are new technologies that are available that don't cost as much. Also, some of these technologies have huge advantages over current types of infrastructure that will balance out in years to come," says Roesch.
Roesch says the only thing the farming community can do is hold the municipality accountable for their commitments.
"We're not here to complain about anything that's been done, we want to move forward and we need to work together... that's how everybody wins," he says. "We're just gonna keep working at it to make sure and watch where it does get spent... that's our job."
