Deed Transfer Hike

2009-05-22 12:10:11

It's only been four years since they've been charging a tax on every property sold in the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg.   And now they are looking at increasing the deed transfer tax.  Council is proposing to bump up the rate from three quarters to a full one percent of the value of the property transferred.  Second reading of the changes to the Deed Transfer Tax Bylaw will be held in the county council chambers in Bridgewater on June 9th.  The tax came into effect in the municipality in September 2005. According to the municipality's figures, the tax earned them $541,554 in the last budget year.

Generous Enough

2009-05-08 06:23:36

A May 20th public meeting on the Queens Place recreational facility has been cancelled because of a lack of "information gaps".  One of those according to the Region's Rec department is a shortfall in funding. The group says the five-million dollars from the province doesn't quite come up to one third of the cost.  They were also hoping for additional money to develop the land around the construction site.  Premier Rodney MacDonald says his government has already given what it can to the project.  The group says a public meeting on Queens Place will be held, but not until they have all of the information they need to provide to residents of Queens.

Pre-Budget Breakfast

2009-04-23 11:13:55

It's a chance to hear more about what could be the budget that launches us into the next Provincial Election.  Finance Minister Jamie Muir will deliver the third in a series of pre-budget addresses across the province tomorrow on the south shore.  Muir will be speaking to the Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce tomorrow morning as part of a breakfast meeting.  The event is being held at the Days Inn on North Street.  Opposition parties have been critical of the MacDonald government's piecemeal release of financial details over the past month. They want to see the budget document introduced and debated in the Legislature, not in the public through the media.  Either the Liberals or New Democrats will have to support the budget to keep the minority government from falling to a non-confidence vote.

Municipal Budget

2009-04-20 05:44:12

No  hints at what's to come in the budget for the Municipality of Lunenburg, but Mayor Don Downe says it's going to be a challenge. Downe says the Municipality has a new working committee, the Budget/Finance Committe that has been working very hard in conjunction with staff.  Downe wouldn't speculate on whether it will be a status-quo budget that will be able to hold the line on tax rates.