Mayoral candidates Walt Cobb, Kerry Cook, and Scott Nelson answer questions at a mayoral candidate forum Thursday afternoon.
The forum, organized by the Williams Lake & District Chamber of Commerce, was held at Beeotcheese Bistro & Bakery and included questions from the floor, as well as questions gathered from the Chamber's annual general meeting.
Candidates were asked: "We know there are challenges faced by local government with limited revenue resources, and we need a broader discussion around local government financing. However, there is a tendency of local governments to subsidize residential taxpayers by unfairly burdening businesses with tax levies far in excess of the services they utilize. This level of taxation bears no relation to consumption of service. Will you commit to reducing the disparity between the taxes paid by business compared to what residential taxpayers pay?"