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Dryden 134 per cent industrial tax hike met with negative reaction

A move by the City of Dryden to resolve its growing revenue problems has been met with some negative reaction. City officials voted Friday to increase their large industrial tax rate by 134 per cent.

A move by the City of Dryden to resolve its growing revenue problems has been met with some negative reaction.

City officials voted Friday to increase their large industrial tax rate by 134 per cent. The move  impacts only the Domtar Mill, which lost 70 per cent of its value in a property assessment last year.

Domtar paid Dryden just $853,000 in taxes in 2013. Under the new tax rate for 2014, the city will collect more than it did before the reassessment -- nearly $2 million.

Domtar's Regional Public Affairs Manager Bonny Skene calls the tax levy "a serious competitive disadvantage," pointing out the mill's value is based on having permanently closed two-thirds of its operations and having eliminated 600 jobs.

Although Domtar typically meets quarterly with every community in which it does business, no meetings have taken place between the company and Dryden since last summer.





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