LETTER: Council must take control of budget

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Editor: When we amalgamated in 1998, we had a full population of about 113,000 people, just under $15 million in industrial tax income and healthy commercial and residential income. 

The budget then was only $138 million. 

Today our budget is over $400 million, having significant revenue loss from industry and other areas, although I see some recovery in industry and other tax income. 

Chatham-Kent has positioned itself for another hefty tax hike this year and a multi-year tax hike of about 21.2 per cent. The 2024 assessment year the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) based our assessments on 2016 values. When MPAC assessment cycle is ready for renewal plus the tax hike forecast, we are in for financial tsunami all the while government personnel remain financially unscarred at the taxpayer expense. (Editor’s note: Changes in MPAC assessment values on property does not lead to a corresponding change in one’s tax rate.)

No matter how you cut it, 100 per cent of government actions ultimately come from tax dollars.

It’s abundantly obvious and has been shown C-K government is NOT open and transparent. The Merlin roundabout was initially to cost about $2.1 million. It will now cost us $6.5 million.

Considering safety and efficiency, there are a number of alternatives costing significantly less than a roundabout. 

The municipality seems to be determined to build a new municipal hall from a box store absent of providing council or taxpayers with up-front comprehensive, accurate and scrupulously fair costing for both the Sears building and Civic Centre so the public can compare and be the judge rather than a system controlled by its administration.

Several freedom of information requests have been filed in an attempt to obtain costing on the Sears building, and dozens of other issues, that ultimately would allow C-K to come in each year with a zero-per-cent tax hike, not counting inflation. 

A number of C-K’s responses not only exceeds the provincial 30-day standard for local governments to respond, but C-K requests additional time to provide financial figures. An open and transparent government, with some exceptions for expected privacy, would not be so secretive, and if proper taxpayer-invested care was taken, such wouldn’t require months to respond to someone requesting financial records to how tax dollars are used.

 Non transparency is a reality in C-K. One can wonder if it is intentional to prohibit council and the taxpayers to NOT know what is going on. 

Council members have said that administration should show where cuts can be made. I doubt administration will say anything in fear of cutting costs and not being able to go back to the province each year for more money. 

Qualified council members should know where cuts can be made in a fair and equitable manner. I believe municipal spending should be on line in an enhanced PDF format so any taxpayer can review any department, any division of any department, to be able to responsibly scrutinize how money is being allocated. 

John Cryderman

Chatham

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