Election Concerns in city's largest ward include lack of sidewalks, recreation

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SAINT JOHN - Pattie Johnson lives close to within spitting distance from the Saint John city limits. Through her living room window she can see homes in Rothesay, where residents pay a fraction of the property taxes she doles out every year.

Johnson says it's unfair she pays more than her neighbours for city services and the tax rate will be a key election issue for her when she heads to the polls on Monday.

"We're the last one on the list to get our snow plowed in the wintertime, but we still pay the same (property) taxes as people who live uptown," she says.

"We're getting almost nothing for our money."

Johnson is a resident of the municipal district called Ward 4, by far the largest ward in the city, spanning most of the east side, including Champlain Heights, Forest Hills, Lakewood Heights and Silver Falls.

The municipal issues on the minds of residents in anticipation of Monday's vote including erosion at Red Head, flooding in the Glen Falls area and air quality surrounding the Irving Oil refinery.

But one issue that unites many of them is high property taxes. And that issue is most vividly punctuated at the city limits, with the tax rate is $1.795 per $100 of assessed value in the city, while in Rothesay the rate is $1.25, a 30 per cent difference.

"Something should be done to make this less unfair," says Johnson.

Her husband, Mike, is a little more moderate in his reaction to paying more than Rothesay residents. He notes that, although he and his wife don't receive sewer and water services, their neighbours pay extra for them. The neighbours also pay extra for garbage collection, which is included in Saint John city services.

Still, Mike points out the city used to employ a graduated taxation system where the rate was higher the closer residents lived to uptown.

"I would definitely like to see my tax bill a couple hundred bucks lower," he says.

Meanwhile, Catherine Guerrier is concerned about the lack of sidewalks along the increasingly busy Eldersley Avenue, where she lives. She says many residents now use the road as an alternate route to the refinery and LNG terminal, as opposed to taking Loch Lomond Road.

Saint Johners drive on Eldersley as if it's a freeway, not a 50-kilometre speed zone, says Guerrier.

"It's a critical issue and although I don't have any children to worry about, as a concerned citizen I'm worried about the safety of people in the neighbourhood," she says.

"I expect they will have to put sidewalks up and police it more as time moves on."

Red Head resident Mark Wilson says there should be a second, quicker access point from his subdivision to the city core. He says if there were an emergency, the extra few minutes drive along Red Head Road could risk someone's life.

"Plus, if the road falls into the water, there's nowhere to go," says Wilson.

Turning to recreation, he says there should be more playgrounds for children in the neighbourhood. He says his 12-year-old daughter, Kendra, has to stay around the house because he feels a neighbouring ball field is too dangerous.

Wilson's neighbour Eric Casey, who lives on Redrock Court, says city plowing is a critical election issue for the area. He says he sometimes has to shovel his way out of his driveway -- and his subdivision's street - to get to work in the morning after a heavy snowfall.

"When I was younger, they used to plow the whole street and you could park on the street or back out into it," says Casey. "That's definitely not the case any more."