Tax increases concern downtown businesses

By Kamryn Cusumano

Downtown Windsor business owners have mixed feelings about the impact of possible tax increases.

A new city budget will be deliberated on for 2019 and some council members are proposing an increase in property taxes. Mayor Drew Dilkens remains opposed to tax increases. Some small business owners say they are concerned about the potential detrimental impact this will have, while others are in favor, so long as frivolous spending becomes checked.

“Yes, small business owners are pinched as it is,” said Tom Lucier, owner of Phog Lounge. “But if you want money spent on things like services or programs that’s where it comes from, from taxes.”

Phog Lounge is a tenant of their property. If taxes did increase Lucier said he might expect an accumulative effect on his rent which “would get worse as time went on.”

According to Simon Yared, an articling student at the University of Windsor, commercial lease contracts will say how much a tenant will pay every depending on their lease. Changing this agreement would depend on the agreements set out in individual contracts.

A cafe just around the block from Phog Lounge is concerned about tax increases in a neighbourhood which is seeing a lot of economic hardship.

“Everyone on my block is bankrupt,” said Ryan Smith, owner of Pause Cafe. “Closed down, boarded up. I’ve been here for 14 years and just within a two-block radius, 63 restaurants have opened and closed. That’s just two blocks.”

Both Lucier and Smith echo similar concerns for responsible tax spending, especially when it comes to the downtown core.

“For 30 years downtown has been neglected and city council has been promoting urban sprawl,” said Smith. “They spent $3 million on Christmas lights…I have no problem with the Christmas lights as a concept, it’s the placement. When you put millions of dollars of Christmas lights in Jackson park there is no economic benefits to any neighbourhood…”

According to Smith, an increase in taxes would also force a small business like Pause Cafe to take an economic hit and potentially raise prices.

“It would be hard,” said Smith. “Downtown is pretty depressed economically already. We’ve got a lot of problems with opioid epidemic and the homeless already, so things are pretty bad downtown and an increase in property taxes would be detrimental. If downtown was successful then it wouldn’t be so painful.”

Lucier is less concerned about a financial hit his business may take and believes this increase is a long time coming. He said charging even half a per cent more could benefit the community.

“Ultimately, to not have taxes go up for the last eight to 12 years and they brag about it, there’s a lot of services we don’t have,” said Lucier. “There’s a lot of things especially we are seeing it now. We have 12 years of unchecked meth addiction and so on and so forth. So now we are like ‘oh we can’t afford to have any of these crisis workers.’”

According to the city of Windsor’s official website: 20.7 per cent of tax dollars are allocated to police services and 10 per cent to community development and health services.

Lucier said he trusts new city council will spend it wisely and make decisions that are good for the collective whole. For those opposed to the increase, Lucier asks “What’s your priority? Save $100 a month or $1000 a year? Give me a break. That’s selfish thinking that communities need to overcome to be better. Go ahead charge me a bit of extra money because it’s going in the right place, it’s not going into another Christmas light display.”