A bit of good news for the cash-strapped city of Saint John.
The city is getting an extra $1.2 million in property tax revenue from the Canaport LNG property this year, on top of the $500,000 it already received.
It comes after the province repealed legislation in 2016 that capped the property assessment at $18 million and fixed the property tax revenue at $500,000.
“What this finance committee has said to council is that we recommend spending that money on one-time spends,” says committee chair David Merrithew, like fixing roads.
He says that money won’t have to be borrowed which, in turn, will help pay down the city’s net debt of $241 million.
This year’s assessment of $98 million was not appealed, but Merrithew says it could be in the future, which is why the city can’t budget for this extra revenue every year.
