Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Budget
iIs A Process":
Council should just cut away all the debris that
staff has added to the pile. If there is not need, there should be no payments.
Period.
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If everyone saw it as I do and the above commenter, that's what would happen.
Until now, the majority have seen merit in stashing funds for the future. Requiring current residents and businesses to pay for servicesthey will not receive is apparently acceptable.
They have likely never been in the situation of having tochoose between bills to pay.
Or visit a food bank, to stay ahead of the debt collector.
A basic requirement of taxation is clarity and comprehension.. .
Municipalities are not permitted to budget for surplus or deficit.
Population is not static. Properties are bought and sold constantly.
Rebates cannot made to departing owners/ Taxes are applied to property.
Basic fairness dictates taxes collected in excess in one year should be immediately applied against the next year's costs.
It's not happening.
Reserves of private funds, for repairs and replacement. make sense. . .
Funds generated by taxation against property are not private.
Municipalities have a right to take only what's needed to pay for services in the year provided.
The year of the budget forecast
Councillor Thompson seeks comparators with other municipalities as a guide.
It's not useful. Treasurers within the Region conference regularly to ensure the choir sings from the same page.
Public servants expect to defend the budget against gimlet scrutiny cut nd slash of elected officials.
In Aurora, Councillors and the Mayor. take positions in defense of the budget forecast.
So the administration has the additional benefit of Council support.
Taxpayers have a fractured Council.
I suspect ,Councillor Pirri finds the role comfortable . He doesn't pay taxes .
The Treasurer attributes my logic to philosophical differences.
Nothing of the kind.
I expect to pay for services received. I pay for many I do not use.
But I feel no obligation to pay for a stash to "stabilise" tax pressures for future residents
Piss on that.
Nothing persuades me there is equity in that process.
I acknowledge no authority to compel me to submit quietly to having my pockets picked.
It would have been terrific if we could have had one of those 'old-fashioned' treasurers who actually was able to make meaningful suggestions about how to save Aurora money. I have not heard anything of the kind from the current one.
ReplyDeleteThe other option, which we will not see, is an audit specifically designed to spot problems within a budget and stop further eroding. This is not just a pipe-dream. The TDSB had one. It located the primary problem. The Province then promptly renewed its contract WITH the problem.
Mayor Dawe has turned out to be disappointing on the fiscal front. Someone said he was on the Budget committee at the Hospital. I had hoped he would have learned how to fight for a balanced approach to spending. He was widely quoted, " What part of 'No' is it that your do not understand? "
ReplyDeleteAurora seldom hears that critical little word.
There is a letter in the Auroran purporting to be from Councillor Gaertner. In it, she ? claims that the Council on which she sits was not informed about a lawsuit involving Aurora and an irate taxi-cab owner. That is the second time I have heard her deny knowledge of a lawsuit launched while she was sitting on council. Gosh!
ReplyDeleteTo 7:40pm – I saw that letter too and was a bit surprised.
ReplyDeleteShe states that “Some questions need to be answered!” and goes on to list and ask “Why…”, “Why…” and “Who..” and ends with “If this Council wants to provide those they serve with an open and transparent government, why was this lawsuit hidden from the public for over three month?”
Who is she asking to find out the answers - The Auroran readers? She’s a Councillor for ________ sake – isn’t she in the best position to find out? What’s she doing throwing up her arms in defeat and asking the public to do her job? If she’s so concerned, shouldn’t she be doing her job and getting to the bottom of things – what was she elected for – or does she want others to do her job? Shouldn’t she be answering her own questions and ending the letter with “on behalf of the citizens of Aurora I’m going to get the answers?” or “I’ve tried my best to get the answers but they are just not forthcoming.”
She seems to want to stir the pot (in the court of public opinion as to how the Council isn’t doing it’s job or potentially not doing their job) and yet take no responsibility for doing her own job?
Am I wrong in this?