There will likely be a lot of anxiety over at Vancouver City Hall in the coming weeks as council grapples with which programs they must cut in order to keep taxes as low as possible. If they cut enough, it should result in businesses paying 0% increase this year while residential homeowners pay 4%. That assumes Vision continues with the NPA's previous policy of "tax shifting" next year.
Like any good doctor, City Manager Penny Ballem has now made her diagnosis. She believes the city bureaucracy has become too bloated. Therefore, the time has come to surgically cut into not only the fat, but a bit of the bone too. Popular programs such as graffiti removal and the petting zoo at Stanley Park are heading for the chopping block.
Despite all of Ballem’s best efforts, there is one elephant in the room that few people are willing to talk about. It’s the dark cloud on the horizon that could very well blow apart Ballem’s best efforts to balance the 2010 budget. It’s called the Olympic and Paralympic Games policing costs. As the GlobalTV story from last night suggests, no one at any level of government really knows what the bill for security will be. If you’ve been listening closely to Chief Constable Jim Chu lately, he indicated the police didn't need to fill all the positions the previous NPA government approved for them last year. By delaying the hiring, he says he’s doing his part to help balance the 2010 budget. He claims he could do so because there are plenty of police officers of retirement age who are prepared to hold off freedom 55 until the Olympics/Paralympics Games are over. (More)
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