People who live in the Halifax area say they're still frustrated by the Halifax Water Commission's so-called ditch tax.
Karrie-Ann Buchanan owns a campground in Hammonds Plains, N.S. A couple of years ago she received her first bill from the commission - thousands of dollars for a storm water charge she didn't know anything about.
“We're up to $8,300, we've put in a grievance with Halifax Water and you know, they told us we have to pay it,” says Buchanan.
Buchanan and her supporters are frustrated and don't understand the reasoning behind the charge, especially since the campground has its own well and septic system.
“There needs to be someone to help businesses like us, we're a small, family-run business, we're seasonal,” says Buchanan.
Pamela Lovelace is running for a spot on Halifax City Council. She says something needs to be done, because many businesses, like Buchanan’s campground, didn't enter into an agreement for this service.
“I was very disappointed to find out the amount of the ditch tax that seasonal businesses are forced to pay by Halifax Water,” says Lovelace. “They've appealed twice, they have a bill of over $8,000 and no real indication of what service it is that they are being provided by Halifax Water. It's not only disappointing, but it's crippling this small business.”
James Campbell, with the Halifax Water Commission, says they are working through all the appeals they receive.
“There's an appeal process, we are certainly not interested in charging people for services they're not receiving,” says Campbell. “So if someone is receiving a bill from us, in our opinion, they are receiving that storm water service.”
When it comes to residential customers, Campbell says changes could be coming as early as next year.
“For residential customers, the main thing they would see is a tiering system that would be tiered based on the amount of impervious area they have on their property. So the less you have, the less you'll pay,” says Campbell.
Essentially that means the larger your paved driveway is, the more you'll be charged. However, that plan still needs to be processed through the UARB.
Buchanan says she's just hoping to make it through this season without going into the red because of her water bill.
“We kinda laughed about it at first, you know, it sounds like a joke, you're being charged because water runs off of your property into the ditch?” says Buchanan.
According to Halifax Water it's no joke, but Buchanan and Lovelace disagree, saying it's time to ditch the ditch tax.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Suzette Belliveau
