Huge Tax Increases Previewed In Proposed City Budget
15/10/2008 02:21
If you subscribe to
the electronic version of the Saint City News,
you had better take a look in your e-mail inbox
this morning folks.
SCN published an e-mail update on last night’s election results, which to no one’s surprise was won by the Conservative candidate.
What is a surprise though, is they also included a sneak peek at the first round of budget figures the city has in mind for 2009, 2010 and 2011.
You better get a firm grip on your wallets people, because this time they’ve gone completely crazy with tax increases. No hold the line or reduced services to live within our means here folks.
Instead they call for big increases every single year.
The SCN story states:
“Stagnating growth combined with higher prices for delivering municipal services will mean an 8.39 per cent increase in property taxes for St. Albertans in 2009.
The City of St. Albert presented a preview of its 2009-2011 budget to a meeting of the Finance and Audit Committee on Tuesday afternoon, which also calls for increases of 8.42 per cent in 2010 and 7.84 per cent in 2011.
Finance and Audit Committee chair James Burrows said that the tax hike was "a little bit more than I thought it was going to be," but he was glad to see it kept in the single digits, unlike other Capital Region communities.
That said, though, Burrows said he hoped to see a "bare-bones, keep the lights on" budget as deliberation play out over the next six weeks or so.
"I don’t think there’s a real appetite right now among the citizenry to have taxes go any higher than they are right now," he said. "In fact, I would suggest that we’ll see a united front to have it even lower. If that means restricting or cutting back on some services, we might have to do that."”
Folks if those figures were to hold, the combined three year whack in your wallet, when compounded would result in a drubbing of 26.7 percent in total tax increases in three short years if my figures are correct.
Good God in the morning, what the hell are these people thinking?
But don’t lose the faith folks. There’s likely a method to their madness and it will probably go something like this when the budget is finalized: “when we started the budget procedure, it was gonna whack you nearly 27 percent over three years. We’ve whittled that down to only 24 percent, way better than Edmonton. Aren't we good showing such restraint?” (Edmonton by the way budgets one year at a time which is exactly what we should be doing.)
Anyone want to bet that will be the line council will use on our tired wallets?
After the $ervu$ Place debacle, it’s high time this council voted to live within its means and deliver a zero increase budget year by year over three years.
If that means reducing services, so be it, but council should know here and now that the first service taxpayers want reduced is $ervu$ Place itself. Stop using tax dollar subsidies for the benefit of the few on the backs of the many. Then there is the big growth in payroll over the past six years. That should be whacked next and whacked hard.
I could go on and on, but right now I am so sick and tired of all this taxation that I want to throw up.
The current bad economic times are about to get much worse courtesy of your very own council. I hope there are riots in the streets. Maybe then this bunch of out of control spenders will listen.
But don’t hold your
breath. Just hold onto your wallets is the best
you can do for now. Either that or develop a
spine and tell this bunch to stop the madness.
Maybe that Taxpayers Association will benefit
us after all, as council are playing right into
their hands with this opening salvo on a new
budget.
Any readers have anything to say on the budget? Or will you bend over and take yet another one for this city administration and council?
