The following letter was sent to Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula Council.
Dear Mayor McIver and Council
Any government effort to engage the taxpaying public for their input is to be commended.
The introductory letter to the 2025 Budget Survey is positive and compelling. But the survey form itself, not so much. The survey channels us into an immediate “either/or” scenario: either we pay more for existing or improved services or expect less service, regardless of the category. Of the eight questions about funding there should be a ninth as “none of the above” and we would all benefit from a category of “efficiency improvements.”
What if municipal management and staff is challenged to a goal to “manage within” and tasked to find savings of, say, 5%? What about the possibility of realigning or reducing staffing? Inflation will be a constant companion for all of us. Finding more efficient ways to provide services rather than increasing taxes should be the mandate!
And what about the longer term? Tourism grows, placing increased stress on services. Yet more and more property is pulled out of the tax base, increasing the tax burden left for residents of our municipality. Are the payments in lieu of taxes paid by the federal park system, for instance, are they keeping up?
Notwithstanding, the SEPO executive has advised its members about the Budget Survey and encouraged them to try to fill it out. We look forward to your publishing of the Survey results.
Respectfully submitted,
St. Edmunds Property Owners, Inc. Executive
David Almack, Kevin Doyle, Dave Hartney, Carrie King, Tom McAfee, Udo Nixdorf and Jack Schenk
Copy: Clerk, Cathy Addison
CAO, Peggy Van Mierlo-West
Editor, Tobermory Press
