Winnipeg:  The Canadian Taxpayers Federation(CTF) applauded Mayor Katz today for setting a goal of freezing property taxes this year.  The Mayor all but announced a freeze in his 2009 ‘State of the City’ address.

“If Mayor Katz freezes property taxes without creating new taxes, he should give himself the key to the city,” said CTF-Manitoba director Colin Craig.  “This is great news for Winnipeg families who are struggling to pay existing property tax rates.”

The CTF has advocated for a property tax freeze again for 2009 as well as a reduction to the city’s business tax.

To help the city with innovative ideas, Craig recommended looking at the following jurisdictions/organizations:

University of Manitoba – Starbucks has partnered with one of their libraries

City of Vancouver – operates a shared public/school library (one building to maintain, one set of staff, one utility bill, etc)

City of Detroit– currently selling municipal golf courses

City of Sacramento – widely uses volunteers to help deliver city services

City of Toronto – introduced a fraud and waste hotline that has helped it save hundreds of thousands of dollars

City of Indianapolis – contracted out dozens of city services, saved millions

City of Calgary – raises millions through corporate sponsorship

YMCA – runs non-profit, affordable gyms without losing money (City of Winnipeg fitness centres lose over $5M per year)

“There are some around council who want to take the easy way out and raise taxes," added Craig  "Clearly, they haven’t thought about the economy and the many areas where the city can improve existing services.”