NORD Taxes for 2007

Went to special NORD meeting yesterday for the passage of the five year financial plan. I had to leave after an hour and a half of debate about the budget. Most of the time was spent on whether they were going to amend the amount required for the Service Review from $150,000 to a more modest $95,000. They had not voted on that or any other amendment when I left so I do not know if this budget had any substantive amendments made to it.

Vernon's two reps present at the meeting, Mayor Lippert and Coun. Cunningham represented Vernon's interest well re the Service Reviews and were forceful and effective as they protected the City's integrity against the attacks and accusations of some other Board members.

With regards to the budget Coun. Cunningham did ask why when the accepted inflation rate that Vernon had used in its calculations was around 1.5% that NORD had used a 2.5% inflation rate in all its calculations. Nord's financial GURU Alan Harris (CFO) indicated that although the Bank of Canada rate was 1.8% (Actually 1.64% is correct) that NORD had to peer into the future and use what they had forecasted would be the 2007 rate of inflation and their decision had settled on 2.5%. This would protect NORD from future upward fluctuations and indeed the inflation calculation seldom ever covered the actual inflation encountered by NORD.

Total CPI inflation (excluding any changes in the GST) should average close to 2 per cent in 2007 and 2008. http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/en/mpr/mprsumapr06.html

It is unsettling to see that our NORD CFO feels inflation in 2007 will be 25% higher at 2.5% than the experts at the Bank of Canada who forecast 2%.

Vernon hopefully used the correct last year's inflation figure in their calculations for inflation and the COLA clause in their salary contracts with non-union personnel not some forecasted inflation rate. I trust NORD will do the same for any COLA clauses that are in force at the Regional Level.

As an example of my concerns is that one of their meeting categories was adjusted from $100 per meeting to $103 per meeting and as bad as I am at figures that works out to be 3% NOT 2.5%. (Must be due to rounding up so the wear and tear on the calculators can be avoided at Political Salary Day)!

Another Posting to come if they actually past this budget without a substantial amendment to the requisition analysis for the City of Vernon. (OFF to GVSC meeting to find out). The S.I.R. figure is incorrect and hopefully the budget bylaw was ammended to correct this ??