The NDP minority government has brought in a new employer health tax, effective Jan. 1. This tax is to offset the elimination of Medical Services Plan premiums. To show the harm done to taxpayers from this tax, I am using the City of Vancouver as an example.
Total payroll for the City of Vancouver in 2017 was $499,640,956. Total payments made to MSP were $4,841,035. The new payroll tax is 1.95 per cent of the total payroll. This new tax is $9,742,998 based on 2017 total payroll.
This is an increase of $4,901,963 or 101.1 per cent, which must be paid.
The City of Vancouver has no other option except to raise property taxes to cover this added expense. Once again, it proves that the NDP did not do its homework on this new tax, once again showing why Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and soon Alberta have said goodbye to NDP governments. Unbelievable!
Joe Sawchuk
Duncan
