Now that the provincial government has committed to full compensatory payments to municipalities to make up for lost tax revenue from power dams, Wawa’s Chief Administrative Officer Chris Wray believes the government can go a step further.  The province had considered clawing back some of those funds for that program in 2014 and for Wawa that would have meant a loss of 600-thousand dollars out of the 2.3-million provided…

Wray says the fixed payment provided to municipalities puts an ever increasing unfair tax burden on local taxpayers…

The special payment program was put in place in the early 80’s when tax exemption was granted for power dam operators.  Wray says being provided a fixed amount leads to municipal taxpayers taking on more of the tax burden over time.  At one time the power dams represented 47% of Wawa’s total taxation revenue—it now represents 38%.