Lantz backs mayor on move of government jobs

Coun. Rob Lantz, chair of human resources in Charlottetown, is applauding Mayor Clifford Lee's stand against a recent decision by the Liberal government.
The province announced in the throne speech earlier this month that it was decentralizing two government departments, part of a massive overhaul of the public service.
Lee called the decision "foolish'', saying he was amazed government sees logic in taking two provincial departments out of the capital city.
The Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development will be moved to Montague, while the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development will be relocated to Summerside. It all amounts to about 150 jobs.
"I really would have thought in this day and age that we were above and beyond this concept of 'let's beat up on Charlottetown, it's the cool thing to do on P.E.I.','' Lee said.
Lantz applauded the mayor's words at council's monthly public meeting recently.
"I'd like to thank the mayor for so forcefully speaking in regards to the jobs moving,'' Lantz said.
Coun. Terry Bernard also spoke in support of Lee's comments.
Lantz said Premier Robert Ghiz made a revealing comment to justify the move.
"He said, 'You're seeing a lot of growth in the Charlottetown area right now'. If Charlottetown is going to have those economic gains decentralized each time they're achieved, why bother?''
Lantz said it also has to be discouraging for Downtown Charlottetown Inc., the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce and city staff who have worked hard to achieve that growth.
However, less than two weeks after the throne speech, the Liberal government announced a five-year, $200-million development strategy it says will create hundreds of new jobs.
At the heart of the strategy is the creation of a $30-million Island BioCommons Research Park most likely to be located near UPEI.
"The innovation agenda was supposed to make up for our losses, I guess, and it sounds great, but it's not even funded," Lantz said. "It's more of a strategic planning document at this point.''
He said there's only one thing that can make the whole decentralization issue easier to swallow - if the province stops collecting property taxes from the residents of Charlottetown.
Deputy Mayor Stu MacFadyen said the province, which collects property taxes for the city, takes $1.50 per resident and gives back $1.16, keeping the other 34 cents.
In other words, the province charges a fee for providing the service. City officials would like to see it reduced, if not eliminated.
MacFadyen said the '34-cent issue', as it's been dubbed, has cost city taxpayers $5 million.
He is hoping continuous meetings with the province over the issue pay off when the province brings down its budget next week.
"It's all about property taxes and the province does zero to city properties in the city of Charlottetown,'' MacFadyen said.
Lantz said the province has been penalizing city residents long enough.
"It makes it very difficult for the city to deliver quality services at a reasonable level of taxation,'' Lantz said. "I've been involved in negotiations on this front for months but it just seems to be going nowhere.''