I would like to present a somewhat different perspective on the “state of affairs” that John presented in his latest editorial regarding taxation and Municipal capital projects.
Firstly… I do get the problem. It wasn’t that long ago we had 16 million in reserves, thanks to the prudence of previous councils under Mayor McIver. We are scheduled to spend over 5 million of that this year alone on capital projects. We are caught in the inflation debacle like everyone else.
We did add to taxation for reserves – I went low, the mayor went higher, and council met in the middle. I also agree we need infrastructure – we go backwards without it. I have been pushing for a water system in Tobermory since the beginning of the last term. I was also on the council the first term after amalgamation when we approved the expansion of the Lion’s Head water plant, which has allowed expansion for senior housing, etc.
I do have a problem with the argument “well most people can afford higher taxes”. This may well be true, but I am convinced that those who can’t afford it are likely members of our permanent community. We may also have a somewhat lower tax rate than other areas, but we have also traditionally had lower household incomes. I felt this wasn’t the time to add to the burden.
In regards to the arena – it actually is not in bad shape. The maintenance costs are minimal until year 8 when the ice plant may need looked at. We did get a grant to upgrade the washrooms and accessibility. I have serious doubts we can build a new facility for the 15.9 million stated. The addition and upgrading we were looking at recently was estimated at over 16 million… and rising, which led us to put a big pause on plans. Would I like a new facility? Of course! We get arena envy travelling to see our grandson play hockey, but we don’t have a benefactor like Bruce Power, and maybe we just don’t have the tax base right now.
I don’t want to debenture our municipality to the point we can’t fund a true need or emergency, and to me, we could be staring down the barrel of a couple – let’s just say Fire and Water. We need some serious conversations about emergency planning – the municipality can only do so much alone. But again…where’s the cooperation and help in funding?
Which brings up another connected matter… conservation and provincial lands do not pay municipal taxes. The Federal Park Grant in Lieu we received from the federal government last year didn’t even cover the monies we had to invest in our fire and rescue, when many calls are in, or because of, the park.
John presented a picture of the tennis courts at the school. Yes, they are being repaired – Bluewater board did recently agree to pay half. Should the municipality have jumped in and paid the full shot? It’s not our property. The total cost of the tennis court refinishing is over $200,000.
I’ve been accused of tilting at windmills in the past, but I would like to see less editorials about increasing municipal taxes, and more about why upper levels of government aren’t contributing to the tax base, because they sure as hell are contributing to the problems. We could afford more facilities and buildings for our communities, within our budget, if the county levy became more reasonable, and conservation lands, the province and federal governments pay their fair share… in my opinion.
Laurie (Smokey) Golden
Councillor
Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula
