City Taxes To Rise 4% This Year

Expect At Least 20% Increase
Over Next Five Years

City Council is patting itself on the back for keeping our tax increase down to a measly 4% after removing expenditures from the budget.

City staff apparently identified $1.8 million which could be cut but council opted to eliminate only $844,000.

Staff also is patting itself on the back for not filling two redundant management positions and finding other money saving opportunities where tax dollars had previously been wasted.

How much money could be saved if the general taxpayer were not paying $500,000 to help people attend shows at the Port Theatre, nearly $1,000,000 to prop up the convention centre and the incidental amount of $500,000 to pay a city manager to not work for two years.

There, in only three items, I identified more tax saving than city staff has identified in months of 'scouring' their departments.

Does anyone really care how their tax dollars keep being spent? How long can people not working for government keep supporting an ever increasing, highly paid civil service where efficiency is not part of the job requirement?

Is the goose still hissing or has it died?