Double-digit hike? Really, York Region?
Yorkregion.com
Jan. 29, 2015
Region looks to raise taxes in double digits over next four years and grapples with growing debt.
Residents are in no mood to talk about tax hikes.
And, if last Thursday’s budget discussion around the regional political table is any indication, many councillors aren’t in the mood, either.
After all, they heard loud and clear from voters a scant two months ago during the election campaign that taxes are high enough, thank you very much.
Residents and businesses told candidates their municipal taxes (combined with the regional and school board portions) are already through the roof and that something has got to give.
The region has its growing pains.
It’s no secret that Ontario’s third largest municipality, with 1.11 million residents - behind only Toronto with 2.77 million and Peel Region with 1.39 million - needs to rein in its ever-increasing $2-billion-plus debt.
And whether or not that affects taxpayers’ pocketbooks directly or not, regional politicians need to look inside its departments to find ways to cut down on ballooning expenses.
Beleaguered homeowners have shelled out an average hike of $50 to $90 annually for the past several years for lower-tier municipal taxes and another $50 or so for the regional portion. Property owners have also been subjected to large annual water and sewer hikes, adding to the burden.
Yes, we need to keep money aside for infrastructure development, upgrades and maintenance and most of us understand that population increases each year put further strain and demand on roads and myriad services.
We get that.
Most taxpayers recognize the costs to deliver services get more expensive each year because they are also opening their wallets wider to heat their own homes, keep up with maintenance and upgrade windows and furnaces for more high-efficiency models.
We get that.
But the region’s highly paid staff and its politicians need to come to the table with more creative, yet measurable ways to raise revenue or cut departmental budgets instead of always looking directly at citizens and saying, “You’re going to have to give us more again this year”.
During last week’s budget discussion, Vaughan Councillor Gino Rosati was absolutely correct when he said: “Any tax increase is not welcome, let alone if it is higher than the rate of inflation.” The forecasted rate of inflation, incidentally, is about 2 per cent for each of the next four years.
As reported in our Sunday paper and on yorkregion.com, this year’s proposed tax increase (at just under 4 per cent) works out to an extra $81 for an average household assessed at $515,000.
That doesn’t include proposed school board and local municipal tax increases.
A frugal first move could have been to scrap a $15,000 three-day retreat where 40 politicians and bureaucrats are, as you read this, brainstorming within the comforts of an area resort, which began yesterday.
While the cost of that may seem like a drop in the bucket when you are dealing with a $3-billion budget, it leaves a sour taste in the mouths of strapped taxpayers, many of whom couldn’t afford to spend even one night at a resort.
As it is, staff has recommended some water and wastewater projects be put off for three to five years until development fees pick up.
But hiring more staff won’t be put on hold, according to the draft budget. While we all expect top-notch police services in our vast region, do we really need to hire 129 more officers over the next four years when statistics show York continues to be one of the safest places in the country? Can’t we make it with what we have until 2019 without hiring, or can we cut down on the number of new hires for now?
Politicians need to tell departments to cut budgets.
