We received information from a family who lost their home in the Tantallon wildfire last year who are now facing along with all other families who lost their homes in NS a huge property tax increase for rebuilding homes

(we have emailed the NS Government and are awaiting a reply)

They are now facing along with all other families who lost their homes in NS a huge property tax increase for rebuilding homes that they otherwise would have chosen to keep.

They have been trying to have the legislation changed and now have a virtual petition that they are hoping to get shared as widely as possible to help get these changes made for the wild fire victims of last year and for all future fire victims.

Info via source

“Hey friends and family, I need your help! Please sign and share this petition. We have amended it slightly to include families who lost their homes in the Barrington and Shelburne Wildfire as well.

A physical petition signed by many community residents was presented at the legislature on March 26, 2024. We have now created a virtual petition for City Council that will show community support to reinstate the property tax caps for the total loss families from the May 28, 2023 Tantallon-Hammonds Plains Wildfire.

Reinstating the caps is possible by PVSC only after Minister Lohr amends the current legislation. Yet he continues to reject our requests. We have requested HRM Council to send a letter of support for this amendment.

Now we are asking for your help by signing and sharing the attached petition:

https://chng.it/NNyn5n7Mmy

https://www.change.org/p/property-taxes-unfairly-penalize-wildfire-victims?recruiter=275979611&recruited_by_id=d34f0140-e124-11e4-a6e8-43285741c458&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=petition_dashboard_share_modal&utm_medium=copylink&utm_content=cl_sharecopy_37965738_en-CA%3A5

Failure to enact this minor change means the families who lost everything in the fire are faced with property taxes that will more than double compared to their neighbours who did not lose their homes. The infographic demonstrates how the current property tax legislation will affect families rebuilding homes after a disaster including wildfires, floods, and hurricanes. It is based on a total loss and a neighbour’s home with major damage from the wildfire, highlighting the inequity in this situation: the total loss is forecast to pay $77,000 over 10 years while the neighbouring homeowner will pay $39,000. Please support this initiative for the required legislative change so PVSC has the ability to reinstate our property tax caps from before the fire.”