A Rundown

If we borrow from internal sources like the Hydro Reserve, interest is paid. Council is elected to make decisions . Staff are appointed to make recommendations. Councillors are accountable to people who freely gave them the responsibility. Staff are not. Master plans are to be reviewed and renewed every five years. They are not chiseled in stone. Builders with a schedule generally pay whatever the municipality demands. In Canada, time is money. Time wasted ,is money wasted. So they pay up. The home building industry did appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board, Orangeville's Development charge when the economy went sour. Municipalities , Aurora included, had to provide refunds to save themselves the cost of OMB hearings. Debenture debt, rather than taxing to build a reserve fund, is my preference for tax stabilization. Nobody finances a home with cash. They pay for it while it is providing shelter for the family. With a debenture, people using the facility are paying for the facility while it's being used Development charge revenues is easy come, easy go and makes people forget principles of equality. New home buyers pay ninety percent of the cost of new public facilities within the price of their homes and therefore within their private mortgage. The building is not exclusive to their use. A huge percentage of the price of a new home is hidden tax. Taxes are paid on taxes forever and a day after. Mayor Dawe is strong in his convictions. He stands by them. I do too. At the end of a long meeting, people naturally get tired and slightly peevish but civility is mainly maintained. This blog is about politics. Politics are about differences. Vive Le Difference