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Dec 16, 20 •
0 Views • Feature Story, Viewpoint • Bruce Corcoran • No Comments
Opinion At a time when small businesses are suffering at the hands of COVID-19 restrictions, an ugly necessity for now, it is imperative that municipal staff and councillors do everything in their power to accommodate and respect those businesses. The vast...
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Dec 16, 20 •
0 Views • Business, COVID-19, Feature Story • Bruce Corcoran • No Comments
By Bruce Corcoran A local business owner wonders what $50,000 a year in property taxes gets her. In Rachel Schwartz’ mind, it’s a broken sidewalk in front of their Richmond Street building, and municipally run competition. Schwartz, who with her husband...
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Aug 21, 20 •
0 Views • Feature Story, Letters to the Editor • Third Party • No Comments
Editor: Chatham-Kent council wants a zero-per-cent budget increase. We all do. The only way to re-generate an economy is to put more cash in the hands of the majority by reducing municipal operational costs and increasing efficiencies, which...
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May 7, 20 •
0 Views • COVID-19, Feature Story, Local News • Jenna Cocullo • No Comments
CFO recommends one time COVID-19 funding to all Canadian municipalities Jenna Cocullo, Local Journalism Initiative Chatham-Kent’s chief financial officer is set to present a report to council at Monday’s meeting outlining recommendations to recover $2...
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Feb 5, 20 •
0 Views • Feature Story, Viewpoint • Bruce Corcoran • 1 Comment
For anyone who opted to put themselves through the ordeal of watching Chatham-Kent council’s budget committee at work last week, we have a suggestion for you: try self-water boarding instead. All joking aside, the process is fatiguing to say the least. We...
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Feb 4, 20 •
0 Views • Feature Story, Local News • Bruce Corcoran • No Comments
Editor’s note: This is our compilation story reviewing the 2020 municipal budget process. For stories following each night’s efforts by council, click Budget 1, Budget 2, or Budget 3. Following three nights of budget deliberations that at times...
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Jan 31, 20 •
0 Views • Feature Story, Local News • Bruce Corcoran • 1 Comment
The budget committee of council followed up a night of cutting 1.35 per cent of proposed tax increases by willfully walking into a quagmire of minutiae Thursday evening, yet recovered to finalize the 2020 budget with a tax increase of 2.97 per cent. They...
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Jan 29, 20 •
0 Views • Feature Story, Local News • Bruce Corcoran • No Comments
The budget committee of Chatham-Kent council opened its 2020 deliberations Tuesday evening without a $434,000 tax deferral, while discussing a bicycle trail and several staffing positions. The proposed tax increase did dip slightly, as administration altered...
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Jan 28, 20 •
0 Views • Feature Story, Local News • Bruce Corcoran • No Comments
As council gets down to the business of finalizing this year’s municipal budget this week, it received feedback from the public at five draft budget presentations around the municipality recently. The fifth and final one took place at the Active Lifestyle...
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Jan 21, 20 •
0 Views • Feature Story, Local News • Bruce Corcoran • No Comments
Before municipal councillors break out their carving knives, the proposed 2020 municipal tax increase sits at nearly five per cent. Chatham-Kent administration released the information at a special budget meeting Jan. 15, with the proposed budget for the year...
