By Staff
December 14th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
What Eric Stern reports is complex but it isn’t rocket science. It is the story of how the city Council you elected is telling you how much they are going to tax you. If you’re happy with what they are telling you – re-elect them. Until then keep an eye on them
Eric Stern delegated to City Council on November 25th.
On December 10th, Mayor Marian Meed Ward had a Letter to the Editor published in the Hamilton Spectator in which she was very critical of two of the delegations that were made when she was not in the Council Chamber – she was at the Joseph Brant Hospital getting her picture taken with Premier Ford who was announcing new funding. The Mayor was not given the opportunity to speak at the event.
The Gazette invited Eric Stern to write about his experience.
My name is Eric Stern and I delegated to the Burlington City Council on November 25th, 2024. The mayor missed my delegation, choosing instead to attend a provincial funding announcement at Joseph Brant Hospital. Despite not being at the Council meeting, the mayor had something to say about one of the questions I asked in my delegation on her social media in which the Mayor said: “attacking the personal integrity of anyone – whether a council member, staff, or another member of the community – is not welcome.”
What Happened? Let’s start with a timeline.
October 25th, 2024 – Burlington releases the 2025 budget, stating “The projected overall tax increase for 2025 is now 4.97 percent”. Page 13 and page 27 of the 2025 budget show Burlington’s portion of our tax bill is increasing by 7.5%.
The numbers being used are a little fuzzy. I have always maintained that, when discussing the Burlington budget, the increase in the tax rate is what matters to taxpayers, which at this point was 7.50%.
The city prefers the 4.97% number which is an average of the four numbers in the Increase% column. Of course they would, it is a smaller number.
October 30th, 2024 – Halton Police Services releases their 2025 Budget. The 5.65% shown above is now 11.84%, shown below. The projected overall tax increase for 2025 is now 5.76%.
November 4th, 2024 – Staff presents the Burlington budget to Council.
You can see on this screenshot, taken from minute mark 2:54:12, that Mr. Basit, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) presented the “Projected property tax increase is 4.97%”. Note that Basit is using the outdated and lower averaged number.
What did I say to cause the mayor’s comments on social media?
“It was interesting to watch Mr. Basit present a 4.97% on November 4th when the Halton Police budget had been made public on October 30th. Did Mr. Basit knowingly misrepresent the truth?”
There are other explanations for the CAO telling the council and the public “the property tax increase is 4.97%” – that averaged number again, when it was known to be 5.76%. Perhaps staff, including the CAO didn’t realize the Police Services budget change would impact the overall tax increase. It is confusing the way other budgets, not related to Burlington’s, cause the overall Burlington number to change.
Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns represents the City on the Police Services Board. She is with Halton Police Chief Tanner and has to approve the more than $400,000 he is paid annually.
Perhaps the council member who sits on the Halton Police Services Board didn’t understand the impact.
We elect a mayor and Councillors to be our representatives. If a staff member presents incorrect information council must raise an objection. When council fails in this responsibility is it wrong for a taxpayer to step in and challenge staff? Which is what I did.
In Burlington, staff presenting incorrect information is not an attack on residents but a resident questioning the information is an attack on the personal integrity of staff.
In 2022 the city began using that “averaged” number, because it is lower, instead of the number that represents the actual tax increase over the previous year. When changes from other levels of government impact the overall increase the very least the city can do is tell us.
My rhetoric aside, now that all the various boards and governments have approved their budgets the tax increase will be 7.51% over the previous year. That 5.82 number is the average of the increases made by all three levels of government. The Police Services increases are included in the Regional budget.
The tax increase that the Burlington City Council controls stands at 7.51%
Should the city explain why staff presented a 4.97% increase number to council and the public on November 4th, 2024 instead of the known overall number of 5.76%?
Should Burlington stop talking about an averaged number and stick to their budget increase of 7.51% when talking about the budget?
Was I wrong in asking for honest, accurate information or is the mayor correct that we can’t question what staff tell us at the risk of “attacking their personal integrity”?
Related News
Mayor Meed Ward Letter to the Editor.
Pepper knows exactly what Eric said and I have pointed it out to him on a few occasions but he refuses to publish it. I guess truth doesn’t fit his narrative.
Recently a commenter using the name Burlington Bob wrote:
Mr. Stern accused the CAO of a word so bad the editor of this paper won’t even allow it to be said. That seems to be lost in all of your arguments in favour of what he delegated. Eric has posted his delegation with the word and so has Pepper but for someone like myself to just repeat what he accused is not allowed to mention it. If that isn’t disrespect I don’t know what is. If he has proof is one thing, but to just throw it out there in his delegation that staff are being dishonest is wrong every day of the week unless he has proof of such.
Eric’s delegation had many pertinent facts but the minute he made his accusation he lost all credibility to his argument and was rightfully called out on it by first Nissan and now the mayor.
“Editor, if you’re going to delete the word Mr Stern used then you’re proving the mayor and councillor Nissan correct in admonishing him for using the word.”
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It took a little time, not something I have a lot of, to dig out what Eric Stern said. I sent him a note asking:
Eric did you say Hassaan was a liar? I don’t think you did. It doesn’t appear in the transcript I am working from.
Just confirm for me please.
Pepper
Eric Stern: The exact statement made was:
“It was interesting to watch Mr. Basit present a 4.97% on November 4th when the Halton Police budget had been made public on October 30th. Did Mr. Basit knowingly misrepresent the truth?”
All Eric Stern asked was a question.
This kind of twisting what was said and attempting to spread false information is not going to be tolerated.
Burlington Bob, whoever he/she is, no longer has the privilege of writing comments in the Gazette until after the 2026 election.
“The phrase taxation without representation describes a populace that is required to pay taxes to a government authority without having any say in that government’s policies. The term has its origin in a slogan of the American colonials against their British rulers: “Taxation without representation is tyranny.”
Using anything but the 7.51% figure, is obfuscation.
(Obfuscation: The act or process of obfuscating, or obscuring the perception of something; the concept of concealing the meaning of a communication by making it more confusing and harder to interpret).
My representative vote goes to having our Council and Mayor use the 7.51% figure.
You appear to be over the target old boy, Tally-ho, and bombs away.