A homeowner from Nauwigewauk ‘nearly passed out’ when she opened up this year’s property tax bill and saw that her assessment had skyrocketed over $100,000 from $132,000 in 2016 to a whopping $236,000.
Christene Sooley owns a two-bedroom bungalow with a granny suite which she describes as nothing spectacular. She’s on her own well and septic system and tells us that she didn’t do any renovations to her home last year — this all stands in stark contrast to the more than 78-percent jump in her property tax assessment she received from Service New Brunswick.
“To me it’s heaven because it’s my part of the world, I love it out here. But I have nothing exceptional. It’s just your basic bungalow,” she says.
Sooley tells us she’s disabled and she’s now afraid to do work to make her home more accessible because she doesn’t know what that will do to her taxes.
“Taxes need to be paid and I do not have this kind of money,” says Sooley. “Right now I don’t think anybody in Fredericton is being honest or doing what needs to be done for the people. I phoned my MLA [Gary Crossman] and he was really no help at all.”
She was told by Crossman to file an appeal, which we’re told she did on March 6 and has not heard anything back yet. Sooley believes that Service New Brunswick minister Dr. Ed Doherty needs to resign and that the premier should consider calling an election.
It’s been reported that the green light was given to fast-track a new assessment system from the premier’s office — from three years to one. Premier Brian Gallant was in Saint John on Wednesday for the Council of Atlantic Premiers and was pressed by a reporter on whether he personally ordered the fast-tracking.
Gallant did not answer the question.
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