DOWNTOWN NEEDS TO PAY MORE FOR SAFETY ISSUES

 SAFETY ASSESSMENT TAX NEEDS APPLY

Downtown Nanaimo is the epicentre of the city’s drug and crime crisis. Residents and property owners in this small zone are the direct beneficiaries of millions of tax dollars being poured into policing, safety, and cleanup efforts. Those millions are funded by all taxpayers across Nanaimo—yet they serve only a few blocks.

The finger-pointing over who is responsible for downtown’s chaos may continue (as the recent UBCM debate made clear), but one fact is beyond dispute: the area benefiting most is not paying its fair share.

Entire city programs—like the full team of Community Safety Officers and the specialized street-cleaning crews—operate almost exclusively in this downtown zone. Those costs should be assessed directly on property owners who benefit from them, not spread across the whole city.

The same applies to the “Reimagine Downtown” project. These upgrades enhance downtown property values but provide little or no benefit to the rest of Nanaimo. The costs should not be carried on the backs of every taxpayer city-wide.

If you’re tired of seeing your taxes jump another 5–10% each year to subsidize this one small zone, tell your city council: it’s time for downtown property owners—the true benefactors—to shoulder more of the burden.