The Town has a policy on user fees. It's purpose is to require facility users to contribute to the cost of operations on a fair and equal basis.
Staff take direction from policy. Permit applications are processed on the basis of qualifications. No divergence is permitted .
The Town has a grant policy. A budget is set each year. Staff process applications for grants on the basis of qualifications.Staff do not have authority to make grants. Recommendations are made to Council to grant or not grant according to qualifications.
A request to waive a user fee is the same as a request for a grant Staff do not have authority to waive user fees. There would be no fairness or equality to waive fees for those who ask but not to those who do not ask.
Request to waive fees are made to the political body. Sometimes they are waived .Sometimes not. There is no fairness or equality in the process.
Often nothing hangs in the balance save amount of funds claimed to be contributed to charity.
For example Dove, a Lacrosse Association, boasts of the amount of a charitable contribution from a tournament in an Aurora facility over an entire week-end without paying a user fee. The contribution ,
if the fee was paid, would be less by that amount. Aurora taxpayers therefore are foregoing revenue
to swell a charitable contribution. They are contributing to a charity without their leave or awareness. Hands are in their pocket which have no right to be there for that purpose.
There is no fairness or equality in the practice of waiving fees. Neither is there integrity.
A request for a fee waiver should be processed in accordance with the grant policy and a recommendation made to Council for approval or not in accordance with qualifications to ensure open and transparent fairness and equality.
In 2010, a "sponsorship" of $2K was provided to a Jazz Festival through the Chief Administrator's office by a process in accordance with neither User Fee Policy or Grant Policy.
It was provided under no policy familiar to this Councillor.
In 2011, a majority of council has approved the park user fee be waived for a weekend to allow union musicians to ply their trade and realise employment at union scale.
Councillors further directed money's to make up the sum of $5K be handed out to augment further union scale wages paid to musicians employed by a commercial endeavour.
All of it to come from the pockets of unwitting taxpayers whose interest they are sworn to protect.
None of it seen as fair and open or equal and transparent or agreed to by said taxpayers.
In my opinion I do not think that user fees should be waived, period!
ReplyDeleteThe argument that a smaller donation to charity would be made if the fees were paid is hogwash. As a taxpayer I believe it is my right to choose how to make my charitable donations - to which causes and how much. I do not want anyone or anything else using my money to make donations to charities of THEIR choice. I believe that my tax dollars should be spent on providing essential services for all of us who pay taxes in this town (not King)and not subsidizing others' charitable choices. If the donation is smaller because of user fees, so be it. If they wish to have a larger donation, they should work harder to raise revenue and keep their mitts off my tax dollars.