What's in a word? A lot actually. A word can spell the difference between a strong news story and a libel lawsuit. A word can make or break a business contract. The right word can land or lose a job. 
And a word can mean the difference between a tax increase and a tax decrease, which is exactly what happened in city council Monday. In trying to OK a significant increase to the city's industrial tax, council actually passed a tax decrease. The word in question: ratios. City council passed a resolution on Monday "increasing the light industry and utility class rates to 3.2 and 6.5 respectively". Only one problem; it should have read "ratios" rather than "rates". And at the moment industry and utility class rates are 7.0 and 8.76, meaning council passed a tax cut. Oops. It's an understandable mistake; but it's also one that should be fixed. After reporter Scott Neufeld caught the error, he started making phone calls. He contacted one city councillor who said the wording didn't need to be changed. That's unfortunate, that a local city councillor would knowingly leave a glaring error in a council resolution that could have the opposite result of what was proposed - a tax increase to ease the burden on residential taxpayers. It's a legal loophole that could be exploited, and there is a responsibility to close those loopholes. Hoping that industrial businesses and utilities judge the city on its intentions rather than its wording is simply bad business. Our reporter persisted, and eventually reached Marg Bailey, the city's deputy administrator, who was surprised by the mistake. She contacted financial manager Rob Mayne, and the two agreed that it was an error that should be fixed.The resolution will be back before council next meeting, and we thank Bailey and Mayne for seeing the need to fix the wording.
Managing Editor David Wylie
And a word can mean the difference between a tax increase and a tax decrease, which is exactly what happened in city council Monday. In trying to OK a significant increase to the city's industrial tax, council actually passed a tax decrease. The word in question: ratios. City council passed a resolution on Monday "increasing the light industry and utility class rates to 3.2 and 6.5 respectively". Only one problem; it should have read "ratios" rather than "rates". And at the moment industry and utility class rates are 7.0 and 8.76, meaning council passed a tax cut. Oops. It's an understandable mistake; but it's also one that should be fixed. After reporter Scott Neufeld caught the error, he started making phone calls. He contacted one city councillor who said the wording didn't need to be changed. That's unfortunate, that a local city councillor would knowingly leave a glaring error in a council resolution that could have the opposite result of what was proposed - a tax increase to ease the burden on residential taxpayers. It's a legal loophole that could be exploited, and there is a responsibility to close those loopholes. Hoping that industrial businesses and utilities judge the city on its intentions rather than its wording is simply bad business. Our reporter persisted, and eventually reached Marg Bailey, the city's deputy administrator, who was surprised by the mistake. She contacted financial manager Rob Mayne, and the two agreed that it was an error that should be fixed.The resolution will be back before council next meeting, and we thank Bailey and Mayne for seeing the need to fix the wording.Managing Editor David Wylie
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