FOLLOWING A LINE OF THOUGHT

The Lawn Bowling Club pays an annual fee of $1,000. for use of the facility. For years they maintained the lawns. The numbers dropped,remaining members were less able and the town was asked to take over maintenance. I posited, to be equitable with other user groups, user fees should be payable. 

The Club Hiuse was built by the Lion's Club is owned by the town and shared by Lawn Bowling and Tennis Club.The clubs pay utilities. Not sure if lights at the courts and lawns are on the meters. 

Men's Soccer Club at the south end of town pay $1.00 a year rent. 

They have use of  a prime industrial acreage site worth millions for a dollar a year . When it was given to them Councillor  Earl Stewrat described it as worthless. The Club operates a restaurant and bar  in competition with catering businesses  We have on occasions  seen invitations to,the general public  in contravention of their agreement.  

We read about AYSC hosting seventeen tournaments during the PanAm games. That was probably a lucrative source of revenue for the club.

It was interesting to read the Mayor's ruminations in his column this week about the worth of public/private partnerships. He referred to the  artificial sod on Separate School property. 

The town and school board are both public agencies. 

The town does have a public/private partnership that hasn't worked out too well . The Soccer Bubble 

behind the Legion is  owned and lucratively operated privately. 

The town has paid  Regiional and school board taxes annually to the tune of $50.000 a year for maybe twenty years. A million dollars out of taxpayers pockets for private gain. Not a good model. 

The Director of Recreation says there is a way to correct that. The CFO says no. 

The town has  agreed to allow the Baseball Association free use of  a million dollar facility  in return 

for  undertaking maintenance. They will hire students for maintenance as opposed to the town hiring students to work  under professional supervision. Aurora has the best maintained facilities in the Region. The town will not save money with the new arrangement.  The Baseball association will save $8700 for non-payment of user fees. 

Council agreed to excuse the fees at the same time the Baseball Association amalgamated with King Baseball Association. 

So King gets Magna .....AND they don't have to provide baseball facilities. 

BTW , 90% of the cost of the Baseball field was funded by development charges paid by new homeowners in the neighbourhood. Nothing  at all by King baseball players. 

The  Mayor's thoughts about municipal hardship having to pay so much for infrastructure while  receiving minimal share of revenues from taxes was intriguing. 

I wonder how new infrastructure built by developers  and millions in iDevelopment charges  funneled into the town treasury is discerned as hardship. While a million a year is forked out from taxes  for  a culture surplus, half a million transferred to the federal treasury for a smelly old contaminated structure that took up a corner of our town park for a century and a half and two and a half million was paid for six acres of land for which we have no  known purpose. 

To say nothing of relieving  some of user fees and development charges while others are required to pay with no opportunity to appeal. 

Sport Aurora Magazine is a private commercial advertising operation. Fre space  provided in the town hall and  benefit of a municipal address from which to launch applications for grants to other public agencies as a non-profit agency. 

The town buys a full page of advertising in the magazine. No discount . 

At least three other publications, The Auroran,The Banner and  Snap are in the competitive business

of advertising. 

Summer Concerts in the Park are sponsored by local business also expected to sponsor local teams. 

The Mayor ruminates about advertising as a possible source of additional municipal revenue.

 Not to reduce taxes.  Oh Dear Me No. The Mayor has publicly eschewed that notion. 

The  hidden objective must be to increase largesse to have more to give away.