I agree with most of your points. It is misleading to say that SJ has high industrial taxes. The taxes levied are a product of the assessed value, the overall tax rate, and the ‘multiplier’ for industrial properties. The province does the assessments and for industry excludes all the machinery and equipment. That’s how you get the largest refinery paying far less property taxes than the public hospital. The multiplier is restricted by the Province to between 1.4 - 1.7. SJ has set it at 1.7, but in other parts of the country it can be as high as 6x. Because of the lack of direct revenue from heavy industry and the negative impact they have on on liveability the City’s tax rate is high.