tax increases

Priorities

Mike Cluett

Over the last few weeks I have talked about the importance of our hospital.  As Milton’s population grows, every level of government needs to make funding our healthcare system a priority.  The economy has been on the front burner now for the last year or so which has put the issue further from Canadians minds.

So far it looks like the province of Ontario will continue to ignore Haltons needs, the Region is doing what it can to pressure other levels of government for funding and now we can include the Town of Milton. 

Every year the Town of Milton uses revenues from the Mohawk Racetrack and they allocate that money through whats known as the Milton Community Fund.  With the election of this new council back in 2006, the Milton Community Fund has been slashed by $ 150,000 and there are a number of organizations left without funding.  Add Milton District Hospital to that list.

Click here for the article in the Champion.

The hospital you say?  Indeed one would think that if the Milton District Hospital applied for funding that, if reasonable, it would be granted.  Nope.  They were denied their funding because they failed to prioritize the equipment.

While the Town seems to be pushing forward its proposal for a FORTY million dollar arts and entertainment centre, which the Town has allocated $100,000 per year from the fund for the centre, is pushing aside the needs of our hospital.  The hospital applied for a $93.000 grant and it was denied.

Where are their priorities?  Arts and Entertainment Centre or the health care system of the town.  While $93,000 isnt a lot of money and the funds were for surgical products and diagnostic tools it shows that the priorities of town council have changed in the last election.

We are facing the toughest economic times due to a global recession.  Jobs are being lost almost daily in all industries.  Citigroup cut 52,000 jobs worldwide in a day; CanWest cut thousands of jobs early in November with CTV and other media groups following suit; not to mention the auto industry which has been hemeraging cash and jobs for the last year. 

Given these facts, everything on the table has to be considered for cuts in order to minimize the financial impact on taxpayers.  In my current position with HSBC Finance, I see on a daily basis more and more people who are dealing with increasing debt loads and its coupled with dwindling real estate values on their homes.  Banks are getting more and more stingy with credit and people are living off their lines of credit.  If governments continue with higher and higher property taxes and continuous spending of much needed reserve funds, it will just add to the problem.

Do we need further transit funding in 2009?  Probably not.  The town has spent MILLIONS of dollars on new buses to drive around town empty (unless its a FREE FARE program) and until they can figure out how to get someone at Main Street and James Snow Parkway to Thompson and Derry Road in less than 1 hour, there will be no further need for buses.  Members of council who have pushed all this funding for a transit system that isnt being utilized properly need to realize the issues and until they are resolved, a hold on funding should be in place.  In the 2009 budget there is close to $500,000 for transit.  That can be allocated to other more essential services the town provides OR can it go towards reducing the proposed rate increase for the year?

What about this arts and entertainment centre or for that matter the second half of the Milton Sports Centre?  There are some other projects that the Town should consider putting on hold or cancelling for that matter until the Town is back in a solid financial position.

Dont get me wrong.  I do support these iniatives and it will bring needed jobs to the region but NOW is the time to get the financial house in order and consider the impact of these decisions on the taxpayers of Milton.  We need to look at the impact on the taxpayer who will be under seige from all levels of government.  Council doesnt see the big picture and it seems to have their priorities in the wrong place.

December 8th will be a big day.  Let your councillors know what you think.

Town Council to discuss tax increase

Mike Cluett

As reported in todays Champion, Milton Town Council will be discussing a potential tax increase of 5.6 per cent on December 8th.

One can only hope that council will take its time during the budget disscussions and do everything possible to limit the increase to todays rate of inflation.

Last years increase of 6.6 per cent was bad enough but with the coming turmoil in the economy (some say its already hit us) taxpayers are going to be once again stretched to the limit.

The budget proposal is to be expected on the town website www.milton.ca (if its not already there) for viewing and they are inviting input from the community as well before the budget comes to council on December 8.

With the Region of Halton proposing an increase and the boards of education also considering an increase, we as taxpayers need to voice our opinion.

Tell your councillors what you think.

Councillors Brian Penman and Rick Day need to hear from you.

Once the proposal is posted on the website, ill provide a link and some analysis as well.

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

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.