I just got my pocket picked again !!

The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray. And so it happened to Coun. Beardsell at Monday's Council meeting. It was this Councilor's obvious intention to bring in a zero% (0%) tax increase while at the same time directing monies towards an infrastructure reserve and a business tax equalization reserve.

The budget was at $421,300 or a 2.83% Tax Increase. To finance this money Beardsell proposed to have the excess money above $1,000,000 in the Policing reserve drawn down. This would put $263,000 towards this years policing costs. He next proposed to withdraw the proposed funding for the Airport Capital Project of $300,000. He finalized his cuts by requesting that the OCP costs of $230,600 be financed through drawing from the 2006 surplus reserve (estimated to be at least $700,000). This would have provided for the taxes to be cut to 0% and the surplus savings $372,300 would have gone into 2 reserves. ($70,000 into a business tax equalization reserve and the balance of $302,300 into an infrastructure reserve.

However a proposal by Coun. Cohrane to reduce the tax increase only to 2% and also to add back into the budget $17,100 for some of the staff increases previously cut, was proposed and passed 4-2. (Beardsell and Coun. Cunningham opposed).

I believe that Coun. Beardsell's intention to draw down the Police Reserve was to provide tax relief not to in effect have this money transferred into another Reserve. Money taxed for Policing should be used for Policing unless in an open and transparent vote in Council it is used for other reasons. Since we had this Policing Reserve set up we have had two open votes on a withdrawal from this reserve to be used for other purposes. ($241,000 for 2007 costs of bylaw officers and in 2004 $330000 was reallocated from the Policing Reserve to the Affordable Housing Reserve start up). These two transfers were debated and decided on an individual motion. That is called transparency.

$123,000 was what the taxpayers got when the Tax increase was reduced from 2.83% to 2%.
With $263,000 coming from the Police Reserve I feel that I just had my pocket picked for $140,000.

At tomorrow's Finance Meeting I hope that this will be addressed and this $140,000 either be used to reduce the 2% increase down to 1.07% OR money taken back from infrastructure fund reserve and placed back in the Policing Reserve.

This is prudent because the Auxiliary Program in the policing budget is $4500 and the Police Inspector indicated they would be increasing this program by 20 new members and would be requesting $2100 per new recruit for the 16 week training. (Total $42,000)