Last week we took a look at Judy Wasylycia-Leis’s platform and track record in politics, this week we look at Sam Katz’s record.

During his six years as Mayor, Sam Katz has been a moderate politician. On one hand, he has kept property taxes frozen for the average homeowner and provided some business tax relief. However, he has also been generous to city unions, special interest groups, introduced a hotel tax and has left plenty of fat to cut.

For homeowners, the property tax freeze under Mr. Katz’s watch is unmatched in Canada. Due to the assessment system, some have seen large property tax increases, but on the whole the city has a pretty good track record. The school tax portion of your bill is of course another matter.

Many like to blame the tax freeze for our crumbling streets. However, the average Manitoba family already gives over 40 per cent of their income to the government in one form or another. Given that a sizeable portion of that 40 per cent is poorly spent by governments right now, why should taxpayers have to pay more?

The last thing our fragile economic recovery needs right now is a property tax hike. If you just lost your job or your business is about to go broke, you immediately begin paying less income taxes. However, your property tax bill will still be there waiting for you. Imagine if it’s even higher.

Mr. Katz has avoided property tax hikes largely by looking around for efficiencies. To his credit, he saved taxpayers millions by selling off the City’s gravel company, a parkade at Winnipeg Square and shut down the money-losing city boat tour service. He also delivered savings by contracting out garbage collection and his team discovered millions in forgotten accounts from completed capital projects.

His administration also removed many bureaucratic hurdles that made it difficult to operate a business in Winnipeg. However, his promise to eliminate the municipal business tax (not to be confused with property taxes that businesses pay) has not been forgotten. Reducing it by 20 per cent and exempting one third of the smallest businesses in Winnipeg from paying it is a far cry from elimination.

Despite how our pot-holed streets may look and feel, city data shows the numbers are slowly heading in the right direction. City figures show that from 2006 to 2009, the number of regional streets (eg. Portage Ave, Pembina Hwy, etc) that are in “new” or “good” condition increased from 42 per cent to 56 per cent. The number of residential streets in “new” or “good” condition increased from 58 to 61 per cent.

However, continuing to improve our streets will be financially challenging for the city as the Mayor gave in to the demands of a vocal minority that pushed for the costly rapid transit corridor.

In terms of fighting crime, Katz has increased the number of officers by over 160 and has increased police spending by over 25 per cent.

While Winnipeg still suffers from crime, as noted in previous Canadian Taxpayers Federation columns, much of the problem is actually beyond city hall’s control. After all, the ‘catch-and-release’ court system is administered by the provincial and federal governments.

More information on both leading candidates can be found on our web site – www.Taxpayer.com.

Note: Column posted as sent to the Winnipeg Sun for their October 15 edition