School District & City of Nanaimo
Overtaxing Nanaimo Residents!
This past year School District 68 ended the year with a $3.2 million surplus and you may recall the City of Nanaimo ended last year with nearly $3 million in surplus taxes as well.
You might think that they would be required to return what amounts to over taxation to the Nanaimo taxpayer but if you did you demonstrate your lack of understanding as to how politicians and bureaucrats view your tax dollar.
In the case of the city of Nanaimo surplus, once again City Council agreed with Mr. Kenning's suggestion that the money be tucked away into one of those secret reseve accounts (you never know when staff might need another shiny new office).
In the case of the school district surplus a spokesman is reported to say "hopefully we can put it in the cupboard for a bit". Heaven forbid they return the money to the taxpayers, after all they might have to spend a hundred thousand or so on a shiny new logo to boost the esteem of those employed by the school district.
There Was No Need For A Tax Increase This Year!
As much as city councillors and city staff tell you how serious they are about holding the line on tax increases and how concerned they are for hardships faced by local residents, their actions don't line up with their talk.
The city surplus from last year, and the school district surplus this year exceeds the amount of tax increase local taxpayers were hit with this year. In other words, city taxes did not have to go up this year at all. They would not have had to go up for 4 or 5 years if staff hadn't decided they needed a shiny new office to play in.
I wonder how many local businesses might benefit if these over taxed dollars were left in circulation in the community instead of being tucked away in some secret account or in some cupboard somewhere.
No way am I excusing the tax surplus not being returned to those who provided it, but I suspect that the City is preparing for a declining economy. They need to ensure that there are funds available to keep them employed, which is easier said when they can say that they are not running in a deficit.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find interesting is that school district 68 has 6 superintendents and 10 learning coordinators one of whom is the superintendents wife. Have to wonder if she would have had a job if the superintendent had not created this job. Not saying he hired her! Also this school district has more management positions than ever and it has a declining enrolment. There are 200 less teachers than there were 7 years ago. Love for you to go and ask Mr. Hutchinson the tough questions. Think it is interesting that when Ms. Lane was here she tried to get rid of the word "Christmas" and the public were in an uproar however, it is okay that this superintendent spends money in ways that does not help students. These learning coordinators are hired to help teachers learn new strategies or just help them in the classroom. The learning coordinators make more money than the average teacher.
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