Budget Review – February 10, 2015
09 Monday Feb 2015
Written by parry034 in Budget/Financial, Parry Sound
The updated budget document is available at the Town’s website as a link through the February 10th meeting. It’s there, just follow the crumbs, I mean hyperlinks.
I would like to offer an analysis, but I am traveling on business this week and will be engaged in other matters. A quick look at the document indicates that the Town is looking at a 5% tax increase in 2015. That would be in addition to any increases related to assessments, which are likely.
Take a look at the budget, I don’t think there is anything in it that is unreasonable. Residents are asking for more services and that comes at a cost. We saw council last year decide to forgo the recommended 2% increase in an election year to give tax payers a break. The OPP savings really haven’t materialized, so Council has little recourse, raise taxes or deny service improvements.
Read the document and let Council know what you feel is worth investing in, and what isn’t. No yelling please; Staff and Council are competent and caring, and there seems little attempt to hide or sugarcoat the numbers.
I’ll continue looking at the budget and may have more to offer by early Tuesday.
Not the Budget Hot Seat (Parry Sound in Colour)
No comments
February 14, 2015 at 9:48 am
There’s the issue of perspective.
I’m not rich, not even really middle class, but I can afford, say, the occasional cheeseburger.
Now, if Harveys was to say “beef prices have gone up, instead of paying $5 for that cheeseburger, you’ll have to pay $6” then I would now face the same choice that you correctly say tax payers face: pony up more, or forego the service. In that case, I can afford the extra dollar, so from my perspective it’s not unreasonable to just pony up some more.
But what if we weren’t talking cheeseburgers? What if it were a gas price increase of $50 a tank? In that case, the extra $50 would be beyond what I could afford, so I would be forced to forego the service: I would drive much less, stay in more. From my perspective then, the increase would be unreasonable.
But what if I were, say, a well paid doctor or business consultant? In that case, my perspective would change, and I would suddenly see the Gas increase as reasonable.
My point here is that the “reasonableness” of a price hike is completely subjective to the financial circumstances of the individual.
To parry sound town counselors and the like, a 5 or 3.8% increase may seem very reasonable and may look to them like an extra dollar on a cheeseburger looks to me.
But many residents see it much differently: many see it as just as unaffordable and unreasonable as the gas hike.
I bet most of those people would rather see services cut, than sit and watch while the government takesthe grocery money they needed and spends it instead on programs and that we could have done without.