Not Mis Information Just Incomplete Information

HOW THE FOG MACHINE WORKS

The headline reads: “Projected 6.3 per cent tax increase coming for Nanaimo residents.”

For headline-only readers, this is a textbook example of how the fog machine works in Nanaimo’s information business.
Yes, Council approved a 6.3% city tax increase. But the headline quietly suggests that’s the increase Nanaimo residents should expect — as if it’s the whole story.
If only.
What’s missing is the pile-on: water and garbage up ~5%, sewer up ~4%, a major jump in the hospital levy, the RDN increase, plus whatever is coming from School District 68, along with items like library and parks charges that also land on the overall bill.
And within the same coverage, there’s little to no plain-language discussion of the biggest driver behind all of this: rising wages and benefits — the structural cost pressure that keeps pushing taxes upward year after year. Instead, we get a few “nice” highlights about safety and parks, as though that’s what the increase is really about.
Also missing: the accountability problem. Many of the same elected officials who vote at City Hall also sit on regional boards where other levies are approved — meaning residents get hit from multiple angles, while the public conversation stays narrowly fixed on “6.3%.”
So yes, some people will yawn at “only 6.3%” and assume it’s not too bad.
Then the tax bill arrives — and the shock sets in.