The City of Thunder Bay wants the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce to “set the record straight” after the chamber released a report critical of the way the municipality handles taxpayer dollars.
City officials are taking issue with the chamber’s report, “An Analysis and Forecast of the City of Thunder Bay’s Municipal Finances.”
In a Jan. 28 news release, Thunder Bay mayor Keith Hobbs responded that the chamber should “get the facts right.”
The commerce said the city needs to rein in spending to keep property taxes from skyrocketing.
The report predicts that property taxes will reach alarming levels if municipal spending continues to increase at the current rate.
Hobbs, city manager Tim Commisso and city treasurer Carol Pollard penned a letter to chamber board chair Uli Walther saying: “The report applies incorrect assumptions with respect to tax rates, tax forecasts and assessment changes.”
The city said the chamber did not provide them with a draft of the report for review and comment.
“It is regrettable that the Chamber did not provide the draft of the Report for review and comment by the City of Thunder Bay through the City Manager and/or others who are experts in municipal finance and municipal tax,” the letter continues.
“By including a highly inflated forecast for tax increases, it has served to alarm taxpayers,” said the city’s release.
“The chamber owes it to the city and to the broader public to set the record straight.”
