Nunavut hamlets look for new ways of raising money

The territory’s municipalities are thinking about how to come up with new sources of money as the Nunavut government’s finances become stretched to the limit and communities continue to grow.

“The government is starting to say, ‘where are you going to get the money?'” said John Hodgson, the chief administrative officer in Rankin Inlet.

Iqaluit is the only municipality in Nunavut with a tax base – but Hodgson thinks other large communities may soon have to follow Iqaluit’s example.

“We all see a little cloud on the horizon where things are getting tighter for the Government of Nunavut. Every hamlet has asked for infrastructure upgrades or funding that they have traditionally had to help them deliver services, and they’ve all been turned down. We’re all thinking: where do we go from here?” Hodgson said.

Rankin Inlet is studying the option of starting a property tax structure in the community.

“It’s not always too popular, because who wants to pay more taxes?” Hodgson said.

This issue was among many that senior administrative officers from 18 communities in Nunavut mulled over last weekend in Rankin Inlet, when they met for the annual meeting of the Nunavut Association of Municipal Administrators.

Iqaluit is the only municipality in Nunavut with a tax base.

“Iqaluit has the added luxury, or curse, of property taxes. The luxury being that they have quite a bit of control over their own destiny by not having to go hat-in-hand to the territorial government that much, but also the problems inherent with taxation, such as collection,” Hodsgon said. “Iqaluit has problems we don’t have, not that anyone felt too sorry for them.”

The CAOs also met with territorial officials to see if it’s possible to improve how the GN doles out money to municipalities.

“There’s a lot of concern that the hamlets have to front the government for a number of the programs that it administers, and the government is paying later,” Hodgson said. “Everyone knows the cost of these programs, so ‘show us the money up front.'”

In Rankin Inlet, this means the municipality has had to pay for large construction projects, such as a waste disposal site, before being paid by the GN.

The CAOs also raised the need for more housing with the GN.

“We’re at the front lines. Especially with decentralization, there are some government houses that are vacant, but there are some housing associations screaming for units,” Hodgson said.

The municipalities would prefer the houses to be filled by GN employees, but residents desperately need housing – a conflict the CAOs aren’t sure how to resolve.

“They drive by and see vacant housing units, so that’s a real problem to address at the local level,” Hodgson said.

During their annual meeting, the CAOs also discussed cooperative measures, such as the NAMIX umbrella insurance organization, and how hamlets and municipalities can limit the risks of property loss or damage.

“If one community has a bad record, it reflects on all the communities. We have to be more vigilant. This last year wasn’t too bad as far as insurance was concerned as the revenues matched the payouts, but the reserve isn’t big enough if there was a major catastrophe,” Hodgson said.

The CAOs learned that municipal employees and residents interested in community government can expect more specialized training courses in municipal management from Nunavut Arctic College.

“We live in a complex world right now and the delivery of local services is coming under more and more scrutiny and calling for more and more accountability,” Hodgson said.