A complaint alleging Mayor Jan Liggett intentionally misled residents when she said the city's 2024 tax increase was below the rate of inflation has been dismissed by the city's integrity commissioner.
The conclusion by Meghan Cowan of the law firm Aird & Berlis LLP comes about five months after someone filed a formal complaint alleging Liggett acted in contravention of Section 5.4 of the Code of Conduct for Members of Council when she made comments in a news release and during budget meetings reported on by CTV News and CambridgeToday.
The code requires council members to accurately communicate the decisions of council, even if the member did not support the decision.
The complainant, who is not named, alleged that, contrary to Liggett's claims otherwise, the city increased taxes this year by 7.17 percent, more than double the 3.4 per cent rate of inflation at the time of the February 2024 budget.
The complainant also claimed the mayor "made an intentionally misleading statement" when she set out that the city’s budgetary increases were “less than inflation” and then made a further intentionally misleading statement when she set out that the city had consistently been under the rate of inflation for the last ten years.
The complaint also alleged city staff, including chief financial officer Sheryl Ayres, city manager David Calder and clerk Danielle Manton "issued intentionally misleading statements with respect to commentary on the 2024 budget and/or attempted to intimidate the complainant."
Those allegations were not part of the investigation since the integrity commissioner's jurisdiction only applies to council.
The investigation quoted what was reported in CambridgeToday to explain the mayor's remarks.
In the article “City passes 2024 budget with a 7.17 per cent tax hike,” Ayres and the mayor are clear that the city's share of the overall increase results in 2.58 per cent increase for the average Cambridge homeowner since the city's portion of the tax bill only makes up 26 per cent of the overall property tax bill
As explained in the budget document, the overall impact on total property taxes ends up being prorated, so by multiplying 7.17 per cent by 36 per cent, the city's portion of the tax increase ends up at 2.58 per cent.
In her response to the investigator, Liggett said it was her belief the tax hike was well below the rate of inflation and she maintained that she was transparent in stating the overall increase was 7.17 per cent.
The mayor also detailed the significant work she had undertaken in consulting with the city’s CFO throughout the budget process "so as to educate herself on the procedure and considerations."
"We find that the Mayor’s comments were made in good faith and in reliance on the City professional staff," reads Cowan's report. "We find no intent to deceive the public or make intentionally misleading statements."
