The comment made me smile. It speaks volumes for what we do here. I read somewhere about the social value of gossip. It allows people to vent. Keeps the lid on and fulfills the old maxim
"sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me"
And the dire warning "tell-tale tit.... your tongue will be slit ...and every little puppy dog ...will have a little bit"
A close friend and I indulge in the most outrageous speculation. It brings out the worst in us. We share thoughts we would not allow anyone else to hear We lower our voices when there's nobody about for miles. Then we giggle until...you know. We are both Irish Catholics. We are in sin just by waking up in the morning. Sure ,it's a terrible burden to carry. So now and again we put it down and kick it about for a bit.
The opening salvo for the 2012 budget was last night. If we accept staff recommendations , the tax increase will be $67 a year. $5 and something a month and pennies a week.
The Region's share will make it $100 a year,......etc.etc.etc.
There's a shift from water rates to the tax rate. $116,000 has been calculated for parks uses. water parks and outdoor ice and hydrant use. A couple of hundred thousand more has been added to the transfer but I don't know the details yet.
It will increase the tax rate by about one per cent. I think it's a bit more off the water rates..
Deferring the switch is suggested.
I won't accept that.We have probably been overcharging people on meters for years
.
There's no chance of re-imbursement and certainly no excuse to continue the practice.
A couple of other things still concern me. One is maintenance of water lines; Distribution is the town's responsibility . Maintenance of the system should be and that cost akso should be on the tax bill.
Second is the cost of lining pipes with plastic. We spend millions every year on that program. We are told it will never be completed. When we finish lining all the pipes we start all over again.again .
I am not convinced we need plastic liners in pipes. It's said to prevent water loss.
Yet in 2010, when water rates were increased by 12% , water losses were increased from 8% to 12%.
No reference was made to millions spent on plastic liners to prevent water loss.
If water loss was increasing instead of decreasing,obviously we were wasting millions on an ineffective device.
When I posed the contradiction, somebody said.
"Well congratulations. I didn't know you had an engineering degree"
It's the kind of denigration that discourages an inexperienced councillor from thinking ..
Mais non moi.
Water has always been distributed the same way. In pipes. There's nothing scientific about it.
The old town didn't have storm sewers .. Our tertiary treatment sewage system was inefficient during flash floods. In the seventies, the big trunk sewer was installed, Volume of sewage became critical.
The decision was made to install storm sewers and while we were at it, renew all lines throughout the old town.
It meant re-construction of the old streets. The program took years but must have been completed years ago.
It means, there are no old pipes in Aurora.
Plastic re-lining of pipes is of questionable value.
But I didn't focus on it until 2010 ,when water loss estimates were increased from 8% to 12%. to justify a 12% increase in water rates.
When I asked for figures of water breaks to justify increased water loss, they were refused because I might skew them.and mislead people.
Then I thought, if that level of water loss is acceptable, what the buck, is the use of spending millions to re-line pipes?
But Capital Expenditures don't impact the tax rate. we are told. They are paid out of reserves.
So where do the reserves come from?. From cash to capital contributions from the tax rate, silly.
The town's budget is in the millions. This year, the water budget will be included.
That's a good thing.
The task for Councillors is huge.
Nothing matters as much. All things stem from the annual estimates.
Taxpayers need to pay attention to what we are doing.
Don't wait for the axe to fall.
Your Councillors need all the support and encouragement you have to give.
Tuesday 8 November 2011
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3 comments:
We do understand what a difficult task this budget
will present, especially for the new councillors. But I
would urge them not to rely too heavily on staff
advice. We once had trustworthy staff but most of
them were wiped out by the last council. The new
bunch are like the new councillors, untested and. therefore prone to error. Do not be afraid to call them
to account if something feels wrong. There is no place
in these negotiations for hissy fits and territorial
posing.
With the entire town looking over their shoulders, as perhaps never before, I don't think councillors will
err in playing hard ball over each and every item. In
fact, it will be expected. Any sloppy thinking or
grandstanding will surely come back to bite the
appropriate asses. And that applies equally to Council
and staff.
It appears to me that for an extra $400,000 per year all Councillors should become full-time and received an extra $40,000 per. Or even more. Let's say an extra $600,000 per years so they would each receive around $80,000+.
Each Councillor would be charged with the responsibility for a department and would have to learn within the first six months what makes things tick.
The 8 Councillors and Mayor would form a governing cabinet and could discuss issues as relative experts, not as a bunch of nimbuses as is often presently the case.
Existing Department heads, all earning well in excess of $100,000 per year, would continue to administer their areas of responsibility, with far greater emphasis on budget management, technology and customer satisfaction.
At present there are far too many hours that are totally wasted during Council and GC meetings, not to speak of the other hundreds of meetings/discussion groups that must inevitably occur.
If we want a Council that works we should pay people to do the job full time and make damned sure they perform.
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