Is 4% An Acceptable Tax Increase For Nanaimo?

Can They Do Anything But Increase Taxes ??

You have to wonder why governments at all levels think they can just keep spending more and more money and continue to increase taxes. Sooner or later the chickens will come home to roost and society is going to have to pay for this uncontrolled spending.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is warning Canadians of coming belt tightening as governments have to deal with out of control spending. In an article in the Globe and Mail Harper says:

Stephen Harper is warning Canadians to prepare for belt-tightening at two levels of government, noting the provinces are in the same financial straits as Ottawa and will likewise be forced to cut back spending.

“I suspect the provinces will have to make some of the same difficult decisions we are making, and to control their spending in the years in the future,” the Prime Minister told reporters in Truro.

“And I think we'll all be in the same boat in that regard. I think that's just the reality.”

So, at a time when the Prime Minister is telling us we need to reign in government spending, our local council is still planning on increasing taxes by 4% this year, and more increases are budgeted for the next five years.

The provincial government has found it necessary to grab another handful of taxes using the HST which is coming this year while at the same time increasing the costs to pensioners in retirement homes.

Sooner or later the well is simply going to be dry and the debts we keep running up will have to be paid. Maybe this council and those of it's generation are hoping the problem will not be theirs to solve and will simply pass on our irresponsible spending habits to the next generation.