SWOOSH...Did you hear that ?

14.5 acres of land with an allocation of services for ninety-two homes on forty foot lots has been put out for bids in the 2C  planning area of Aurora.

It' s part of the last  lands  available for development within the community.

Bidders will be builder/ developers hungry for  build-ready land.

The town  has been contemplating joining the competition to acquire the land for parks purposes.

It has been discussed behind closed doors because it is a potential real estate transaction.

In  real estate matters, the town's interest must be protected .

The purpose of  the closed door meeting has already been stated as required by the Municipal Act.

I am not giving away any secrets.

 A couple of other things are not secret.

Development charge revenue from 92  single family homes on forty-foot lots would be $5,475,656,

if the land were taken for sports facilities  that revenue  would be forfeit.

A deficit  by that amount  would be created in  revenue forecast from development charges.

A  projection  used to justify capital project spending made necessary  by development forecasts which would not happen.

Not only would  development charge revenues vanish before our eyes, annual assessment revenues
 from 92 homes on forty-foot lots would also not materialize .

The cost of taking the land out of the assessment base would  be added to the cost of  acquiring the land for sports facilities.

Instead of  new tax revenue, the land would be a drain on existing resources.

A forecast  work-load and revenue  to building services department  would not be forthcoming.

Ninety -two applications  won't be processed ... no inspections required.....revenue will not be realized .....but payroll  would be maintained nevertheless.

The proposal did not emanate from Council.

The factors above were not offered in the cost calculations.

The swooshing  sound you hear is the sink hole deepening  under town hall coffers.