I agree with the City of Vernon's CFO that his numbers that he gave council are correct and while some of the parameters used for the rental recoveries are debatable, enough detail was available for the Council to accept, request clarification or change if the subsequent debate on the presentation warranted such changes. The interest rate used is still baffling but in the scheme of things is relatively minor. It accounts for $196,000 annual difference while the potential rental projections add up to $597,000. Council accepted the report and there is enough detail from the messenger (the CFO) that a full and comprehensive range of possible tax burdens could have been presented to the public.
The City chose to run ads, produce pamphlets, have storyboards where the only reference to the Cost Per Household is a presentation for 3 properties that describes the Estimated MAXIMUM Annual Tax. They chose to ignore the presentation of previous referendum approved discretionary projects like the Performing Arts Centre and Multiplex that provided a separate estimated cost per property for the Capital Component of the financing and the operating cost net of revenue as a another separate estimation.
This form of information to the public is biased and if this was a retail product being sold could be dismissed as "slick advertising" or more cynically "Bait and switch".
All I requested is that the City present a range of possibilities from a 25 year financing with the Capital Costs ($1,515,436) shown as a charge for the 3 valued properties and a separate projection for the (597,805) worth of potential rental recoveries. They could have had a third column that showed these two items netted. That they chose only to use this third column and label it as 'Estimated MAXIMUM annual tax' is misleading and opaque. (antonym for transparent). (I also requested the City to do the same full presentation for a 20 year financing as I believe that is the same term for those 2 other discretionary projects that were approved by the public in a referendum.)
I ask the City to present this information in a clarification ad in the local newspapers and acknowledge it at their public information sessions including their radio show on Jan 23 at 11-12 on 107.5 KISSFM.
I feel that this would give the maximum circulation possible in the most effective way of this information that will be part of some people's decision making process on the upcoming Jan 26 referendum.
By this request I am acknowledging that Rolke's reporting does exceed the circulation of the Vernonblog readership. (for now!)
1 comment:
Very diplomatic. However you will never find who is responsible for the misleading information that has been put in front of the taxpayers. I suggest you ask that question-who takes the responsibility? who appoved the expensive adverts and the content therein?Somebody should be accountable-the mayor and council promised open and accountable government!
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