Author: Mike Cluett

150th Kudos

Mike Cluett

150th Group

As many of my blog readers are aware, I was heavily involved in Milton’s 150th Anniversary Celebrations for 2007.  It was an amazing time in my life as I got to learn more about our town and its rich history and we got to celebrate the town and the people who made it what it is today.

I can tell you from personal experience that a lot of work goes into planning these events.  It started back in 2005 during a selection process where a number of Miltonians signed up to volunteer their time and efforts.  We first met with the council committee in charge of organizing the team and after what seemed to be a very grueling interview process, I along with a number of others were chosen to head the master committee.

At our first meeting I was appointed the chair of the committee along with Karin Muller and other volunteers who represented the Town of Milton, Mayor Gord Krantz, Lorrie Ferrante, Janet Davidson and council member Cindy Lunau.  We also had members of the Milton Historical Society come on board which included Bruce Carlin.  It was back then where we came up with the idea for our core events to mark the amazing achievement of 150 years.

The committee came up with 4 main events to be held during the 2007 year which included a Winter Fun Fair at the Thompson arena, a summertime street party, Canada Day celebrations and the finale of the Amazing Race.

Part way during the spring of 2006 I had to step down as Chair of the committee due to some increased responsibilities at my employer, as well as the fact I had launched my municipal campaign for town council in Ward One (which has been outlined here in the blog).  At that point in my life, time was very limited and with the celebration plans underway, I didnt want anything to slip through the cracks.  Karin Muller stepped in as chair and along with her hard work and dedication she continued the efforts that were started and brought the celebrations to a reality.  I of course stayed on as a member of the master committee and with the rest of the group we came up with a year full of highlights.

Some of the highlights for me include the Canada Day Celebrations where we had created the Milton Walk of Fame.  During our several meetings in 2005 and 2006 we wanted something memorable to come from this committee and the idea of honouring the people who made an impact on our town, our province and our country was perfect.  With the Town Hall being expanded to include a more modern facility while maintaining its roots, we devised a walk of fame that would bridge the new part of town hall with the older part.

The deliberations for the first inductees to the Walk of Fame were very long as the number of people who we felt made that kind of an impact on Milton were many.  Even the most knowledgeable people in town didn’t realize a number of people who had roots in Milton who were a big part of our culture.

From artists like Albert Casson , to high profile members of the media like Susan Delacourt and Ernie “Mr Dressup” Coombs, to political leaders like Senator Betty Kennedy, to many noteable names in town like Jim Dills, Chris Hadfield, PL Robertson and professional athletes like Tiger Jeet and Tiger Ali Singh, Bruce Hood, John Toneli, Leon Stickle and others , the names were many.

On a beautiful Canada Day in 2007 hundreds of Mitonians showed up the the fairgrounds and watched as each inductee was introduced and given the honour of being the first people to grace the Walk of Fame.  The speeches were emotional, funny and thought provoking but the main theme of all of them was that they were incredibly proud and honoured for this achievement.

Out of all the events that we organized from the ground up, this to me was the most gratifying.  There were other events of course.

The summertime street party in June that brought out thousands to the downtown core of Milton with games, events, fun times, music and most importantly the opportunity to celebrate this amazing town of Milton and its people.  The weather was perfect and many people called and emailed the town to find out if this was going to be a regular event.

This past budget the Town of Milton allocated funds to preparing for this summers street party, so stay tuned to www.milton.ca for more information on that event.

Selling merchandise

Another great time was the Winter Fun Fair where many people braved the sub zero temperatures to join us for a family skate at the Thompson area.  We were joined by the legendary NHL hockey player Johnny Bower and the Milton Ice Hawks team had a very brief and very cold game outside as well.  Kids were there to enjoy the games and activities in the warmer area and lined up to get their hockey sticks signed by members of the Ice Hawks and Johnny Bower.  We knew then that this was going to be a great year.

And it was.  The final event of the year was the Amazing Race where many teams registered and showed their town spirit in an event that would take them all around downtown Milton.  The teams were, forgive the pun, amazing and very creative.  This event was organized by Karin Muller who replaced her dining room furniture and decor with organizational charts and paper to make sure the event went off without a hitch.  There were untold numbers of hours put into that event and Karin did an incredible job.

I say all of this because on April 5th at the Granite Ridge Golf Club, the Milton Chamber of Commerce Community Awards Gala will be honouring Miltons volunteers and businesses in one night.  In the coveted Presidents Award, 3 integral members of the committee will be honoured.  Karin Muller and Bruce Carlin from the Milton Historical Society will receive the 2007 Presidents Award for their leadership on the 150th Master Committee.

Karin “took the ball” as the old saying goes and ran with it to help create an incredible celebration to mark a very significant part of Miltons history.  They deserve it for all their hard work.  Congratulations!

Federal Budget Benefits Municipalities

Mike Cluett

A couple of days ago, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty released his third budget. This is something unheard of for a minority government being able to have this many budgets without being defeated. In many cases, they’re doing a good job and while most Canadians don’t want an election, they seem comfortable with our MP’s in this minority situation.

Some of the big highlights for towns and cities are as follows:

  • Strengthening Public Transit

    Public transit plays an important role in easing traffic congestion in urban areas and contributing to cleaner air and lower greenhouse gas emissions. In Budget 2006, the Government set aside $1.3 billion in support of public transit infrastructure and introduced a new tax credit for public transit passes.

    Budget 2008 sets aside up to $500 million in 2007–08 to be paid into a third-party trust, allocated on a provincial-territorial per capita basis, for public transit infrastructure. Funding will be paid into the trust, once legislation has been passed, for only those beneficiaries that have made public commitments before March 31, 2008 to undertake investments in public transit. The beneficiaries of the trust will have the flexibility to draw down the funding as they require over the next two years. They are encouraged to report publicly on the expenditures financed and outcomes achieved.

    The trust will be used for specific projects of capital infrastructure such as rapid transit, rail, transit buses, and high occupancy vehicle and bicycle lanes.

This means more federal money will be available to municipalities to invest in public transit improvements. What the GTA desperately needs is a seemless transit system that will allow a Milton resident who works in Brampton or Hamilton to be able to take a bus from here to there with minimal difficulty. As it stands right now, that person would have to drive.

  • Permanent Gas Tax Fund

    The Government recognizes the need for long-term funding for infrastructure to help drive economic growth and productivity, to achieve our environmental goals, and to build strong, competitive communities.

    To this end, in Budget 2007 the Government announced the historic seven-year $33-billion Building Canada Plan. More than half of this investment under the plan will flow to municipalities. For example, municipalities can access the $8.8-billion Building Canada Fund and benefit from the increase from 57.14 per cent to 100 per cent in the rebate of the Goods and Services Tax they pay.

    The largest component of the Building Canada plan is the Gas Tax Fund, which provides municipalities with funding for priorities such as public transit, water and wastewater infrastructure, and local roads. Under the plan, the Gas Tax Fund will grow and reach $2 billion by 2009–10 and stay at that level through 2013–14.

    In response to ongoing requests for stable, long-term funding, the Government announces that the Gas Tax Fund will be extended at $2 billion per year beyond 2013–14 and become a permanent measure. This will allow all municipalities, both large and small, to better plan and finance their long-term infrastructure needs. A permanent $2-billion-per-year Gas Tax Fund will help put in place the world-class infrastructure Canada needs.

With Milton being the fastest growing municipality in Canada, this should benefit us as we wait patiently (or impatiently as it may be) for our roads to be developed to accommodate its growing numbers. The town of Milton is now over 70,000 and counting and we need the Region of Halton to keep up with the growth and ensure minimal delays while widening roads in the area like this summers plan for Derry Road to Trafalgar. The Region of Halton and the Town of Milton cannot keep relying on Mattamy Homes to bail them out.

These are just a couple of items that I pulled from the budget. All in all, it is a pretty sound plan for the coming years. Using a good portion of the surplus to pay down the national debt, make these kinds of investments and reductions in taxes like the GST cut, it looks like Canada can weather some of the impact of the US economy with minimal effects.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment here or send me an email at mike@mikecluett.ca

Champion Reader responds to the "tax and spend advocate"

Mike Cluett

Merry Christmas everyone! I certainly hope that everyone’s holiday went well and continues to be happy and memorable.

Many of us know are off for the holidays and there are still lots of things to do. We have to visit some more friends, organize the presents we received and enjoy spending time with our families. I was looking through the most recent edition of the Milton Canadian Champion and I came across a letter to the editor from Milton resident Mike Rank in response to Ward 4 Councillor Wendy Schau’s letter where she tried to justify her reasons for raising taxes.

Here is her letter, followed by Mike Ranks letter.

TAX INCREASE IS MANAGEABLE

In last Friday’s Town budget story, the Champion did a good job summarizing two long nights of discussion. I’m writing because there’s one small, but important, correction and one further explanation I would like to put forward.

Firstly, the $4,000 for subsidy support for individuals and families that need assistance paying user fees for Town programs wasn’t an increase but the reversal of a proposed cut.

It was one of the reductions in service listed to bring the proposed tax increase down from 8 to 6.6 per cent. I was pleased that my fellow councillors voted to restore the funding.

Secondly, your readers may have found it strange that I’m quoted as saying that council should stop behaving as though the people of Milton are impoverished. In the past, I have often written about the need for more affordable housing in our community, so it follows that I do know that there are Miltonians who are in financial difficulties.

My statement to council was about the ability of the community, as a whole, to provide the financial support necessary for this to be a strong, vibrant and healthy place to live.

Milton‘s tax rate has been far below that of surrounding municipalities for many years. Even with the 6.6 per cent increase, Milton will continue to have the lowest tax rate in the GTA, except for Toronto. Mississauga’s rate is 19 per cent higher than ours and Halton Hills is 40 per cent, or $300 on a $300,000 assessment, more.

The argument has been made that Milton taxpayers can’t afford the increases necessary to provide a good level of service to our community as it grows.

My argument was that Miltonians are capable of contributing a fair and reasonable amount, one that’s still well below what’s asked of taxpayers in other communities.

When a tax increase is mentioned, people often ask what happens to the money that Milton receives from the proceeds of the Mohawk Slots. Milton usually receives about $5 million a year.

That $5 million should be used only for capital expenses or the Community Fund, and not in the operating fund, which is the money used to run Town services. To do so would be like a family relying on lottery winnings to pay for their groceries — not wise or prudent.

WENDY SCHAU, WARD 4 COUNCILLOR

***

NOT MUCH VALUE SEEN FOR OUR TAX INCREASES

So our very own tax and spend advocate, Ward 4 Councillor Wendy Schau, doesn’t understand the “compulsion” that people have for low tax increases and feels that “wonderful communities cost money.”

Well the fact of the matter is that people are willing to pay if they see value for their money, and unfortunately I’m not seeing a lot of value for these tax increases — given the mismanagement of this whole growth process. I’m sorry, but I need someone to explain to me why the growth demands and resulting revenue charges and increases don’t stay in sync, and if they actually don’t, maybe then we’ve gotten to the real issue.

After all, pretty much all of the expansion involves homes that are relatively higher in value combined with a higher density of residences per kilometre of road.

With respect to Schau’s comment that money makes things wonderful, well then I guess I’m teaching my son all of the wrong values in life, as I really thought that a community or a society could be wonderful and happy, regardless of whether it was rich or poor.

MIKE RANK

MILTON

Try to focus on the good.

Mike Cluett

Its Sunday afternoon and its less than 2 days before Christmas.

The last thing on the minds of people in the Town of Milton is a 6.6% tax increase and what the money was spent on. Most people are rushing around from store to store picking up those last minute presents for people on their lists, extra bottles of wine for those unexpected guests, snacks for friends and family to munch on over the holidays and wrapping paper (myself included)…lots of wrapping paper.

I recently received an email from a friend who mentioned “the inmates are now running the asylum” at Town Hall. They had mentioned that taxes were going way too high, slot funds are being uses to balance the budget (Mike notes: which is very risky and a bad precedent to set for the future) and “the community fund is being savaged!”

In the coming entries, I am going to be going through the budget and showing where the money the town is planning to spend is going. There are many worthwhile projects on the docket for 2008 including some more money to improve roads in town and others like a new library on the east side of town. Whether you agree or disagree where the money should go, most people don’t know where ANY money is going.

The tax measures were made official by town council with only Mayor Gord Krantz, Ward 2 Councillor Mike Boughton, Ward 1 Councillor Rick Day and Ward 4 Councillor Paul Scherer voting against the increase.

Which means Regional Councillor Colin Best, Ward 4 Councillor Wendy Schau, Ward 3 Councillor Jan Mowbray, Ward 1 Councillor Brian Penman, Ward 2 Councillor Greg Nelson, Ward 3 Councillor Cindy Lunau and the other Regional Councillor Barry Lee all voted for the increase in taxes.  Merry Christmas right?

I know, I know…tis the season.  What needs to be done is a careful look at what the money is being spent on for 2008.

Some examples are $1.4 million for an overpass on Main Street by Milton Mall. I have met with some people who told me that the Town of Milton could have done this project much sooner and for less money a few years back, but those plans were sidelined.

This past year the Town of Milton spent $1.6 million on 4 new buses for Milton Transit. This was an item that was approved last year for the 2007 budget but a decision that should be called into question now seeing how Milton Transit ridership hasn’t increased over the past couple of years. They can show some statistics of increased ridership, but when you really look at the numbers, the increases are due to the Milton Transit “FREE RIDES” days which they have held several times throughout the year. It shows that when the fare’s are full price, the ridership drops back to its previous levels.

Why do I bring up that decision from 2007 budget? There was a further $865,000 in funds allocated to Milton Transit to supposedly purchase more buses. I don’t know about you (and this can be debated ad nausea ) but should’nt the town do more to increase the ridership first before allocating funds for more buses?

There is something wrong with our transit system if the only way we can increase ridership is by making it free. From a business standpoint it makes no sense. Incur expenses while taking in no revenue. Nope, double checked and it doesn’t make sense.

Another topic we can bring up is the Slots revenue from Mohawk. For those in Milton who don’t know, the Town gets a portion of the revenue from Mohawk Raceway just outside of town in Campbelville. Its an agreement that was reached awhile ago and those funds were always to go towards special projects or infrastructure needs of Milton. Apparently the Town of Milton gets roughly $ 5,000,000 from the revenues of the raceway.

That’s just some of the things that I will talk about in the coming days. But for know, I just want to go out and get those stocking stuffers I promised Pat, snacks and wrapping paper (I haven’t even started wrapping presents yet!) and get into the Christmas spirit.To everyone out there, please have a happy holidays and a Merry Christmas. Be safe!

It happened again

Mike Cluett

I was getting ready to go to the last official meeting of the Milton 150th Anniversary committee around 630pm when I heard some weird sounds and then a smash.

Oh no, not again I thought and hoped for the best as I made my way to front porch. So much for hoping.

There was another accident at Yates Drive and March Crossing last night between 2 vehicles…one coming out of March Crossing turning east towards Bennett and the other traveling on Yates towards Bennett. One driver was taking her family to the Hawthorne Village PS Holiday Sing a Long when, according to her, the car came through the stop sign and hit her on the drivers side front wheel, causing some significant damage.

Road conditions were fine at that time with little no snow and the roads were a bit wet.

My neighbour Wally and I did what we could to help them out and thankfully no one was hurt in this case.

We have had several near misses and now 3 accidents in the last year at this intersection and nothing seems to have been done. You might remember an article in the Champion about this intersection and how the town was going to do some further studies.

Its only a matter of time before something worse happens or someone is injured or killed.

Changing rules takes time…I understand that but as I mentioned last night “you cant legislate common sense.”

Its been said so many times here on this blog and in letters to the editor that our residential streets are not raceways and yet still people fly down the street. Just after the cars were moved to the side of the road a car few up our street at way over the speed limit and drove through the stop sign at Bennett. Unfortunately we didnt get the plate number, but from our location I did see that same car go down Irving Terrace just after.

When youre driving towards an intersection, regardless of stop signs or not, you have to approach it with caution and look out for other cars. This was a totally avoidable accident and shouldnt have happened.

I know that the majority of people I have spoken with over the course of the last year after the election have told me they agree with my stand on doing something, whether it be stop signs, speed bumps or reducing speed limits. But something has to be done.

Maybe reducing speed limits wont accomplish much, but if they get nailed by the police doing 60km/h instead of 40km/h, the fine will be a lot more, and MAYBE they might think twice. Sad to say but I feel I’m losing faith that something will change.

If you agree that something has to be done at this or any other location in town, please do your part. Write a letter to the editor of the Milton Canadian Champion and the Halton Compass…write a letter to your councillors and the Town of Milton…take down the plate numbers of people who you feel are not driving safely and send them to the Halton Police department…go to the website www.haltonroadwatch.ca and find out what more we can do to stop this. The more people get away with this the more it will continue.

***NOTE*** The link to Halton Road Watch seems to be down and not working.

Tax Increases Coming for Milton

Mike Cluett

As many of you know, its about this time of year when the Town of Milton council sits down and decides how much money they need to pay for the services they provide. Its also a well known fact that Milton has one of the lower tax rates in the GTA, which is what makes Milton a choice for many people to live.

Last week on December 10th and 11th, the council sat down to hammer out the town staffs proposal for the budget. What came out of it was rather shocking.

After “long deliberations” the council had decided on a 6.6% increase in our taxes for 2008. This means a homeowner with a property value of $ 300,000 will have an increase on their bill of over $45 for residential and roughly $37 for rural.

Keep in mind the rate of inflation is hovering at 2.5% for this year.

Why such a huge increase? In the articles linked below by the Milton Canadian Champion you will see the highlights (or low-lights if you so chose) of the budget deliberations on the 10th and 11th.

The budget initially had an increase of 4 full time firefighters for the Milton Fire Department but Ward 2 Councillor Greg Nelson made a case for just one more saying “Four says we got the message — five says we care.” A little on the dramatic side and it worked as the changes were approved.

While I am an avid supporter of the fire department, I feel that we have to be prudent in our spending. Things cant change overnight or else taxes will be double digit before long. With this change it added $46,000 to the budget. On the down side, council took out some much needed funds for our new fire chief. While we will now have one more firefighter, the department will be without its new chief until June of next year.

Coupled with the Region increasing taxes by 3.7%, we will now see some big changes on our tax bills in the coming year.

As quoted in the Champion article by Melanie Hennessey “The $27 million in the capital budget will be invested in 96 new projects, including $3.7 million in the new Town Hall, $2.5 million in the new library branch, $2.3 million in a fourth fire station and $1.4 million in a railway underpass on Main Street.”

What was even more upsetting is the lack of interest from Miltonians about the budget and its process. The Town of Milton had a plan in place on a number of occasions for public input on the budget over the past year for what the money should be spent on. During these budget debates on council, there were very few delegations to speak out on it. We all complain about taxes but never really take part in the process that leads up to these decisions.

I personally am NOT against tax increases. I am however in favour of keeping any tax increase in line with the rate of inflation. We have to continue to live within our means With the town growing as it is, it will be hard for this and future councils to make those decisions to keep taxes and spending down. I am also upset at the amount of the increase which is a full 4 per cent over the annual rate of inflation.

At that meeting Councillor Wendy Schau from Ward 4 wanted to add another full 2 per cent onto the budget to put $400,000 towards the town reserves, making the tax increase 8.8%.

Other councillors such as Jan Mowbray and Cindy Lunau, both from Ward 3 supported the increase. Wendy Schau called the full 2% increase “good sense” while Cindy Lunau called it a “wise investment”

Since when does a huge increase in taxes make “good sense?”

Mayor Gord Krantz ran a very efficient meeting of council on the 17th and suggested to councillors that if they feel that these increases are justified or if they wanted further changes to be made, that he would propose to open up budget talks again and silence was his answer. Lots of talk.

This years budget debate brought out the usual “grandstanding” that’s become a norm at this time of year while each councillor stands up and tries to justify why we should pay more money. While some of these major projects are needed to help the town grow, these decisions could have been made at other times saving us untold amounts of money.

Bad decisions in the past breed bad decisions in the future. My only worry is that now we’ve had such a large increase in taxes this year, it will only justify council next year to raise them even higher.

There wont be an election in Milton until 2010 so we should brace ourselves for further increases to come until that time.