1. Brilliant op/ed by Phil Hochstein in today’s Vancouver Sun, asking mayors and councillors some tough questions about last week’s Union of B.C. Municipalities buntoss in Victoria:
That’s
because municipal spending is out of control in B. C. It’s getting
higher than the average pro- marijuana protester on the lawn of the
Vancouver Art Gallery — and there’s no end in sight. Since 2000,
spending has risen 46 per cent — while population has gone up 12 per
cent. Spending has risen almost four times faster than the population
growth. The only growth problem B. C.’ s cities, towns, and villages face is their own big- spending ways. If
a private company faced these kinds of challenges, the entire
convention would be organized around topics like cost- savings, making
do with less, and tips on how to economize. They would have no choice
because a private company that had spending far outstripping market
growth would be out of business. Municipalities think they have a
limitless supply of money — the pockets of hard- pressed taxpayers. Yet the mayors and municipal administrators don’t have a single session on the topic of taxes and spending.
You do have to wonder about the priorities of many of our elected officials.
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