A proposed tax on heavy trucks using Saint John roads was struck down by city council this week.
The proposal was part of the city manager’s sustainability report, which aims to cut the city’s $10 million deficit by the end of 2020.
Industry groups, such as J.D. Irving, Ltd. and local representatives from Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters took to the media to oppose the bill.
Jean-Marc Picard, executive director for Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association, says he was pleased to see the proposal vetoed, as he believes the industry already pays its fair share in taxes.
“We pay diesel tax, we pay our permits for overloads, we pay our registration, we’re already heavily regulated,” Picard said.
The trucking industry was taken by surprise by the proposed tax, which was brought up at the council meeting on April 20.
Industry groups had less than two weeks to dissuade the city from pursuing the tax.
“We had to really come together quickly to make sure (council) understood what the tax was going to do,” Picard said.
Another concern for the trucking industry was the out-sized impact this would have on local trucking outfits, as Picard believes policing the tax would prove impossible.
“When you get carriers from Ontario, the U.S., Quebec, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, that come to the city to pick up or drop off a load, there’s no way you can collect from those trucks,” he said.
To make up for the $1 million needed to curb the deficit, city councillors voted to find an additional $1 million in cuts among city payroll.
