By Pepper Parr
January 20th 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Mayor Meed Ward doesn’t like the look of 4.99% tax increase and has advised her council colleagues that she will be bringing the following Staff Direction to Council tomorrow
Direct the Chief Financial Officer to provide a list of 2021 budget reduction items for Council’s consideration that could decrease the overall proposed tax impact (city, region, education) from 2.88% to 2.43% (representing a city tax increase of 3.99%) with the list being provided to members of Council by February 1, 2021 and included for public reporting as part of the February 23, 2021 Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk & Accountability Committee -Operating Budget Review and Approval.
Staff will have to squeeze every department in the city and maybe even look at some of the reserve funds that are a little on the fat side to get the 4.99% proposed tax increase down full percentage point.
Even 3.99% increase is outrageous! Not to speak of 4.99%!
Year after year our taxes continue to increase. Staff MUST find savings, and don’t cut any services either. For the Mayor to be willing to accept a 3.99% increase, since she instructed staff to shave off 1%…..wow !
A staff direction to to do the job of council. Same playbook as last year. No dirt under this council’s fingers. What is 1% savings anyway. If staff came in at 3.99%, MMW would have asked for 2.99%. If council sees something frivolous, they should take it out and wear it. They are elected to perform this function. The mayor should be going to the city manager to identify inefficiencies and deal with them accordingly, not at budget time but during their 1 on 1’s. What is his long term outlook on how the city operates?
Hello at City Hall–is anyone awake????? The private sector has been hard hit by a pandemic–unemployment is higher, wages and salaries have stagnated and bankruptcies are rising. So what the politicians at City Hall do? They kick the private sector when it’s down by piling on with an unconcionable tax increase. Of course we should expect this–MMW is a Liberal, all she knows is to tax and spend. One thing you have proven with this budget is that “we are NOT all in this together”. In the past two years, this Mayor and Council have presided over increases of 3%, 4%, and a projected 4%–far beyond the rate of inflation as the public sector tells the private sector to subsidize their fat-cat lifestyles.
Here we go again. The mayor directing staff to find savings that will bring the proposed tax increase down by 1%.
When a mayor continually asks for staff to find savings perhaps staff realizes this and makes certain that it can do this when it prepares its initial budgeting needs?
3.99 is still too high!. I would accept a 2% increase. I can see another big change in council members in the next election. Get busy! BTW mayor, why do you think a reduction of 1% is good enough?