Fighting the five-percent tax hike

Here's my newest press release, which I'm distributing door-to-door today. It's going over very well.

O’Neill calls for city hall cuts & lower property taxes

COQUITLAM – With yet another huge property-tax hike looming over Coquitlam, independent candidate Terry O’Neill has called for immediate steps to protect homeowners.

O’Neill, who is running in the May 15 by-election, points out that council adopted a budget on May 3 calling for the average homeowner to pay an additional 5.28% more property tax this year.

Added to last year’s 7% increase, the two-year total is quadruple the rise in the cost of living over the same period.

“The average worker or small-business owner certainly hasn’t received 12% in raises or earned 12% more profit over the past two years,” O’Neill says. “It’s unacceptable for council to continue saddling the citizens of Coquitlam with this sort of tax burden.”

He said council must immediately freeze hiring and re-examine all aspects of the budget. “The city has to cut its spending, starting immediately,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill recently wrote a passionate plea in defence of homeowners, housing affordability and lower property taxes in Coquitlam. The article, published by the Georgia Straight, drew praise from Province columnist Jon Ferry.

“…I was happy to see that Terry O’Neill, a candidate in the May 15 Coquitlam city byelection, has been vigorously defending the suburban lifestyle he and his wife have enjoyed for the past 30 years,” Ferry wrote in his paper’s May 3 edition.

O’Neill has had a distinguished career in journalism and communications. He is also a past president of The Eagle Ridge Residents Association and currently sits on the boards of several non-profits, including the Coquitlam Foundation.