Budget..,Fussbudget ..No.2

Note  time of posting. I am starting at 2.51 a.m.I have already had a few hours of sleep. Arthritis in my shoulders and knees  causes less discomfort sitting than lying down and I have  another tale to tell about the budget. Actually several  but  I don't know how long this one will take before I feel sleep is more likely.

Three half ton trucks at $30K each are  recommended.Someone, it may have been me, asked about the need for three..The answer came back.

One truck might last another one year or two. A second one might last another  year. So ,to me that means  we could cut  two half ton trucks  out of the budget.  $60K is  a sum worth cutting,  Right?
Yes right.

Councillor Pirri moved the two be cut and staff be required to come back to Council if the trucks
needed to be replaced.

That is not what I said before.

I have resolved not to write posts without notes or to go through the process without taking notes

I owe the whole council an apology and I do so wholeheartedly.

I think I may still be suffering after effects of the last council. Four years of sitting at a table with totally predictable votes may be proving hard to shake.  Making an error like that one should help considerably
but I don't feel good about it.
.A second item was $100 K for library carpet. The recommendation was for replacement  with carpet tile.

Some  areas of carpet are  more heavily used than others. By the square foot, carpet tile  is more expensive than broadloom.  It is  less so if one considers the flexibility of replacing  soiled or damaged areas only.The library has all those massive shelf units covering carpet. Carpet maintenance should never be as expensive again.

I noted not all the library floor  has been used to equal extent. Initially,the  library was overbuilt. Not all areas have  been subject to the same  wear and tear. Is it therefore necessary to  replace the entire carpet all at the same time?

Back came the answer. The ground floor could be done this year. Upstairs next year. The budget item could be cut in half.

That should make me feel useful...right?   Wrong.

Initial budgeting is done by managers responsible for their departments. Figures are supposed to run the gauntlet of scrutiny  by  Chief Administrative Officer and Treasurer.  Each item must be justified or it does not survive the analysis.

Why did it take a part-time political representative  to point out  cost to replace  library carpet was twice what it needed to be?

When the budget increase presented to a brand new council ,with sparse collective experience,by a
management team, represents a  horrendous  tax increase?

The answer to that question escapes me as well.

A long.long stretch of  dead end road ,servicing only eighteen homes , was recommended for a tar and chip surface treatment at a cost of $70K  as a line item in the budget. I queried it.

 I drove down there to count the number of homes serviced by the go-nowhere stretch of road.
There had been complaints of "tripping" the report said.

"Tripping" I thought ? is what you get  with broken and heaved up concrete sidewalk. There is no sidewalk there.   I would be  surprised if there was pedestrian traffic of any significance. There are many thousands of feet of wilderness fronting the road. Vacant frontage does not represent income to the municipality.

When land gets developed or "improved", developers pay to improve public rights-of-way.

A brand new million dollar mansion  is conspicuous on that stretch of road.

In the meantime,  lack of sidewalk on Glass Drive which sees  student pedestrian traffic,  probably in the hundreds, from two schools is prominent in my mind because its not planned until 2016.

At the Chamber lunch on Friday, Councillor Abel informed me the $70 K was being cut from the budget. The Region of York is planning to construct a water main along that stretch of road . So it\ has  to be dug up for that purpose. Isn't it lucky we found  out on time before we spent $70k on a tar and chip surface.

But wait a minute..... why is the Region  constructing a watermain on that stretch of road.The town does not provide urban services out there. Properties are serviced by wells and septic tanks.What else is going on that  Council doesn't know about? 

Councillor Pirri noted at lunch, he had walked down the road . Neither  he nor I  noticed a hazardous surface which would cause "tripping" or anything else about the road that  required a new surface.

I think I might sleep now.
But I haven't finished with  the budget.
So hang tight,
I will return.