Budgets and catching up.

Well Folks I have not fallen off the face of the earth or had writers block.. Once a new Council gets sworn in we start the work immediately, new committees, some orientation sessions and workshops.
One of the first things we do is budgets. Everyone around the table is concerned and aware of the tough economic times we live in. How people are still struggling. But the other thing that happens is people still expect services and programming from the Town and Region.
For every tax dollar collected in Canada the municipalities receive the smallest part. Fifty percent goes to the federal government, forty two percent to the Province and just eight cents to be split among the Region and the Town. We do pretty good for what we actually get.
The municipal level of government delivers a variety of services that people depend on. From when you turn on your lights, water or go to leave your laneway you are impacted by it.
This year has been difficult as at the Town we are facing a variety of pressure. The Arena Task Force is proposing we build 3 new arenas in the next 4 years. We have the library about to go under construction. Then there are other recreational needs like parks, soccer fields and trails. The cycling Master Plan could potentially cost 15 million by the time it is finished and this year we are adding in money for construction on 2 of our major projects.
The preceding paragraph has over 50 million in projects. Staggering, I know. That was just the Town. Halton Region is facing budget challenges but they have been softened by uploading of Provincial items off the property tax base. However even when those items are uploaded there is still inequities in the budget. Items the province is supposed to cost share equally, never work out that way. Each time they do it costs the taxpayers in Halton. This is for items like Ambulance, public health and social assistance.
The budget for Health and Social Services is 235 million plus. About 95 million is what is charged to the tax base.
Social Service costs have gone up due to the economic downturn but we are hopeful they will start to be reduced. Social Services including housing employ about 1,000 people at the region. In both Health and Social Services al lot of our programs are legislated. We have to do them.
The good news is that both Winston Churchill and Steels are due for long needed upgrades.
We also have a request from the Hospital for funding that is about 4.5 million.
Raising taxes is never easy. But our constituents can rest assured we do not do it likely.
We spend a lot of time reading and preparing for budgets. I have always believed a Councillor should contribute, put forward ideas and vote. The easiest thing would be to vote against everything and not say a word. However I was elected to try and build a better, community, Town and Region. I will continue to be part of the budget process and will work with my colleagues on our vision of our home.

I also promise I will endeavour to write more...