mike cluett

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.

Does this make sense to you?

Mike Cluett

Flipping through some on-line news this morning and I came upon a story from CBC News that made my jaw drop. After reading it, tell me if you don’t feel the same way.

The way it looks is like the City of Toronto WANTS their councillors to spend money and then punishes those who take it upon themselves to SAVE money.

This is beyond ridiculous! I’m sure Councillor Ford submits a detailed outline of all that he spends so whats the difference if he uses his own money to do it. And the City of Toronto wonders why they’re in the cash crunch situation they face.

Instead of being applauded for doing something to help out, hes singled out and persecuted for being fiscally sound.

Imagine if the Town of Milton did this? One example locally can be pointed out with former councillor John Challinor who took a reduced amount of pay for years in Ward 4. He didn’t accept any of the pay increases over the years of being on council and was one of the most frugal spenders. Imagine if the town staff said to him, “You’re taking the pay increase and that’s that!” It would be a joke.

Mayor David Miller and the City of Toronto executive are a joke if they condone this type of attack on one of their own. It just goes to show people that politicians only think of themselves and not the people they represent. Isn’t there something ELSE they could be doing, say finding the money they need to fix roads, pay for city services, improve the transit system and making the city safer to live in? They chose this route to show their taxpayers what their priorities really are.

Message to Mayor Miller…Instead of whining and complaining that the “feds” are to blame for the increasing gun violence in the city and the “feds” not giving them their fair share… DO SOMETHING about it instead of pointing fingers.

Here’s the CBC story.

Councillor reprimanded for not spending enough

Toronto city Coun. Rob Ford was formally reprimanded by the city’s executive committee on Monday for not spending enough taxpayers’ money.

Ford is the ultimate penny-pincher on council, spending nothing of his allotted $53,000 office budget this year.

Ford pays his office expenses out of his own pocket. He buys the stamps, the envelopes and pays the cellphone bills himself.

But that goes against the city’s ethics rules that call for transparency in public spending, the underlying principle being that the public should know who is paying so there is no chance individuals or companies could use the money as a lever to ask for favours.

“You don’t spend private money, or developers’ money, or anybody else’s money on things like your newsletters. You spend the public money because there’s an audit trail, it’s accountable,” said Mayor David Miller.

There is no suggestion Ford is doing anything improper, but strictly speaking, he is breaking the rules.

Ford said he’s done nothing wrong. He said he has been blessed with good fortune and he doesn’t want to charge Toronto taxpayers for something he’s happy to pay for.

“I can do what I want with my own money. I choose not to submit receipts because I don’t want to be reimbursed. The only reason these councillors submit receipts is because they want to be reimbursed,” Ford said.

He’s also fighting back by posting all of the office expenses of his fellow councillors on his website, item by item.

He has long argued that office budgets are just slush funds and that some councillors have spent thousands of dollars this year on lunches and dinners, sometimes involving alcohol.

Possible pay suspension

“There’s councillors at 2:30 in the morning taking cab rides. What are they doing at 2:30 in the morning taking cabs from downtown going to Woodbridge? Hundreds of dollars being spent,” said Ford.

Ford’s refusal to submit receipts and get reimbursed could land him a suspension of his pay for three months.

That doesn’t worry Ford, who said, “I’m not going to die without three months’ pay. What are they going to do next, throw me in jail?”

Council will decide on the punishment at its next meeting on Dec. 12.

Milton Santa Claus Parade

Mike Cluett

dsc03913.jpg

Hundreds of people began lining the Main Street parade route as early as 1pm. Prime seats became hard to get for a great parade that gets better year after year and this year was no different.

Friends alike were seen along the parade route. Some people I haven’t seen in some time and a few people from out of town (as far as Orangeville I heard) to see what all the fuss was about. People come from far and wide to take part in Milton’s Santa Claus Parade.

Milton’s Santa Claus parade has a reputation for being one of the best in Ontario, let alone one of the best in Canada. This year had a bit of extra attention across Canada.

I opened my Friday’s edition of the National Post to see the result of a story first published in the Milton Canadian Champion by Melanie Hennessey. Organizers of the Milton Santa Claus parade had some hard decisions to make to keep the parade from becoming too long. They had made the decision to cut down on the extra cars or floats by asking Regional Chair Gary Carr, Halton MPP Ted Chuldliegh and Halton MP Garth Turner not to take part in this years parade.

Having politicians in a parade like this is tradition as far as I’m concerned. It goes along with all the other businesses and organizations that take part and create floats or cars or trucks.

I have no problem with having our local members being a part of the parade. But in the same breath, I am not the ones organizing. One would have to realize that hundreds and hundreds of hours are being volunteered by an untold number of people over the course of the year. To give you an idea, shortly after the new year the committee will reconvene to plan next years parade. Thats almost a years worth of planning. The parade was looking to be long (and it was this year) and they needed to make some cutbacks. There were some people that planned on being a part of the parade but couldnt. They looked to the current participants and decided that they could cut it down by the number of floats by removing the politicians. A hard decision mind you, but a necessary one according to members of the committee.

I was asked today that if I won the election last year, would I be upset if I wasnt able to be part of the parade today. Of course I would be upset, but I would accept the decision of the committee and move on.

Only the Mayor of Milton was asked to be the only politician allowed to participate in the parade. The theme of this years parade was for the 150th anniversary, a committee I have been part of since its inception back in 2005, and the floats and parade participants were to promote our 150th birthday year.

While Mr. Carr and Mr. Chudleigh were upset at not being allowed to take part in their usual way, they both showed class and stated they understood the decisions of the committee and planned to abide by it. Ted Chudleigh said that he would probably sit along the parade route with others and enjoy it as a spectator.

Over the past week this battle of words with Mr. Turner and those involved in running the parade reached a fever pitch where on his blog Garth stated that “he would walk the parade route with his dog” defying the committee and their decision.

Its gone beyond stupidity now with Garth claiming theres a conspiracy against him, and how the parade committee is partisan against him and its a way of shielding children from politicians and the political process and on and on and on. Its become so laughable its hard to believe that a grown man is making this much of a fuss about it. I hope it just goes away.

For those of you who were wondering, and as far as I could see, Garth didnt make an appearance on the parade route. In fact his name was brought up a couple of times, but only after the Mr. Grinch character made his way down by us did the name Garth Turner come up. Those who did bother to talk about this whole mess mentioned that its blown out of proportion and “SOMEONE” should grow up. I concur.

If someone is that bound on being in a parade, and the committee continues with their “ban” on politicians next year, maybe he can get involved in a number of organizations in order to be part of the parade and wave. He might have to put away his MP HALTON sash, but at least he can sit an wave.

The parade reached us in downtown Milton at about 225pm and Santa made his way at about 350pm. That made for a very long parade. Just imagine if there were politicians in the parade, eh? HA.

A great parade again this year and the people who planned this event should be congratulated!!! Excellent work this year. Pictures to be up shortly and if you have any, please feel free to email them to mike@mikecluett.ca and I can post them here as well. To those who took part in the parade and kept the crowd laughing and cheering along the route, thank you. And to those who braved the chilly wind with their kids, and holding tightly their hot chocolate from Troy’s Diner, shivering along the streets….thank you for coming out.

A classy event for a classy town. And no one was arrested for crashing the parade. A good day all around. Merry Christmas everyone!

"Slow down and obey the rules of the road"

Mike Cluett

Intersection dangerous: residents

Nov 09, 2007

A local woman is calling on the Town to put a four-way stop at a south Milton intersection after her house was struck by a car on the weekend for the second time in five months.

Yates Drive resident Denise Dawes said people have been using her street as “their own little speedway” and ignoring the rules of the road, particularly around the corner of Yates and March Crossing. Her home is the second house in from the intersection.

“To have my house hit twice in a five-month period is a great indication that nobody is obeying the two stop signs that are there,” she said.

“I think it’s time that the (Town) planners rethink their decision about placing a four-way stop sign at this location. I’m living proof that there should be something there.” Dawes said while the first accident caused more damage to her house than the car that struck it, this time around one of the people in the vehicle required medical attention.

“I’m hoping and praying there isn’t a third time,” she said. “Frankly, I don’t want to come home and find my house surrounded by police tape because someone has lost their life due to the carelessness of some impatient driver.”

Town Engineering Services Director Paul Cripps said a traffic count was done at the intersection around 2005. At that point, the warrants weren’t met to implement an all-way stop.

He noted that another count will take place within the next two to three weeks provided the Town receives a formal request for it from the public. Dawes told the Champion she will be making such a request.

In addition to Dawes, local resident Mike Cluett — who has been a strong advocate for local road safety — thinks something needs to be done to rectify the situation at Yates Drive and March Crossing. He said he’s heard from residents in the area who either want a four-way stop at the intersection or even speed bumps.

“There are a number of options we’d like to look at,” he remarked. “(I support) anything that will make it safer for kids.”

Cluett also pointed out that traffic problems such as these aren’t just isolated to the one intersection. “There are problems on a number of streets in the new area of Milton,” he said. “We need to see what we can do to make streets safer.”

And as for Dawes, she has a simple message for those who speed down her street: “Slow down and obey the rules of the road.”

Melanie Hennessey can be reached at mhennessey@miltoncanadianchampion.com

Yates Drive and March Crossing

Mike Cluett

mike-cluett-005.jpg

Just the mere mention of that intersection causes many residents in the area to roll their eyes.

Why? We have seen many near misses of vehicles driving down Yates from Thompson Road with cars coming out of March Crossing. This weekend was no different.

Lets go back in time to this past summer around the dinner hour. Local residents were brought out of their homes with the sounds of screeching tires, loud thumps and a big bang. What had happened was a car traveling north on Yates Drive towards Bennett Blvd. at what witnesses describe as “over the speed limit”, narrowly missing a vehicle coming out on March Crossing into the intersection. This car swerved to miss that car, lost control and jumped the curb on the opposite side of the road and smash into a house. Luckily there was no one hurt, the car sustained some damage and the bay window of the home was damaged.

For those of us who live in the area know, kids are walking up and down the sidewalk heading to their friends homes or to the local parks and thank God no one was there was this happened.

Now, we go back to this past Saturday and the almost exact situation happened again. A car traveling up Yates Drive from Thompson Road heading towards Bennett Blvd. driving up the street, narrowly misses a car coming out from March Crossing, loses control and jumps the curb on the opposite side and hits the same house in almost the identical spot.

Enough is enough. Im not one person who favours putting stop signs at every intersection or reducing speed when there is no justification. Something has to change before any other home or God forbid, someone is injured or killed.

The speed limit on Yates Drive is 50km/hr. During last falls election campaign, I spoke with many people about community safety and what we as citizens can do to make our streets safer. Many of you favoured reducing the speed limit on streets. Is that enough?

Would a 40km/hr speed limit saved this home owner from yet another insurance claim and time away from their lives to repair the damage to their home that someone else caused? Maybe.

If the speed limit was reduced it might be cause for the driver to make sure they slow down. Who really knows.

Would a stop sign have done the trick? Again, who knows. If drivers know there is a stop sign approaching at that intersection, would they reduce their speed before they come to March Crossing?

Possibly. Only if people open their eyes and realize our residential and town roads are not speedways.

It’s frustrating to live in an area such as this with such amazing neighbours and people living in the subdivision to have to deal with this. The only thing we have left is to turn to the town of Milton and see what can be done.

For years now, residents have complained about speeding on our streets. To the town’s credit they have done some studies about excess speed on Yates Drive and have concluded it doesnt warrant a stop sign at this particular intersection.

My message, that I plan on delivering with the help of the local residents, is simply this.

Reduce the speed to 40km/h and / or put a 4 way stop at this intersection. By doing nothing, is simply condoning this behaviour and endorsing what has already happened.

The safety of the people in the area, their homes and our children are more important than worrying about if people will be inconvenienced by an additional stop sign.

Whats more important to you?

Is the Green Cart program enough

Mike Cluett

 

The Region of Halton recently announced that it was going forward with a Green Cart Program to help reduce the amount of waste that heads to our landfill site. In case people are unaware of where that landfill site is, take a trip down 25 (Bronte Road) south of Derry and you will soon see it.

There was quite the discussion during the last municipal election on what should be done with the landfill, which is quickly approaching capacity. With the hundreds and hundreds of new homes being built in the area there will be a further demand on that landfill and its up to us as residents to do our part.

The Region of Halton currently has the Blue Box program in place. You are to put glass, plastics etc in one box and in the other we place the acceptable paper products, boxes, etc. As of April 2008 it was announced that residents will be able to put all products into one box instead of separating it, given the improvement in the separation technology available.

During that campaign a debate raged on about the EFW (Energy From Waste) proposal that was put before Regional Council and the pros and cons involved. In essence, an incinerator would be built at the landfill and the waste would then be burned using clean technology to produce energy that would be used in the region of Halton and beyond. Coupled with this proposal there was the much maligned Pristine Power Plant issue that seemed to dominate the last half of the campaign.

Recently Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr along with council announced that it was putting the EFW option aside permanently and focusing only on the existing programs and the Green Cart.

Does it go far enough?

With our landfill approaching capacity quickly (some analysts have said that within 25 years Halton will be required to have another landfill or another option in place for our garbage) will simply placing household food scraps and other materials in our Green Box do the job? With the landfill approaching capacity by 2023 according to Halton Region analysis, we need to take sufficient action now. The addition of the Green Cart program will add 7 years to the life of the landfill where the EFW facility would solve our problems for close to 50 years from now.

The EFW program, according to the proposal and the experts would have added at least another 100 years to the life of the Halton landfill. Does the Green Cart program go far enough?

At first glance it would seem that unless I’m mistaken and someone can hopefully provide me with more information, that it would have little affect on the amount of garbage at the landfill. The Region of Halton, and residents in general, need to come up with a longer range plan to solve the landfill issue.

Of course costs will be a major factor in making this decision. Who pays for it, how will we pay for it, etc. But the main question remains, what will it cost if nothing gets done? What if we wait until the landfill is near capacity and decisions have to be made then? The cost to taxpayers will pale in comparison and who knows the effect on our environment.

The amount of available land is decreasing with every new resident that we welcome to the area. What other options are there available to increase the life of our landfill?

It seems that the easier political issue would be to scrap the EFW and go with the easier to sell Green Cart Program. Tough decision are going to have to be made NOW and not 25 years from now when our landfill is overflowing and the residents will be screaming for answers.

Lets look at all the options … now, before its too late. Food scraps and other items just wont cut it.