Tomlinson Still Bamboozling the Almaguin News

In the May 19, 2011 edition of the Almaguin News, Mayor Paul Tomlinson reported to Mary Beth Hartill that the municipal tax levy in Kearney was only going to be increased by 0.1%. This is typical Tomlinson bullshit. Tomlinson used to bamboozle Rob Learn with his fast and loose “facts”, now he’s doing the same to Mary Beth.

On the surface, the budget looks good with a minuscule increase of 0.1%. But if you read lines 302 through 308 of the 2011 budget you’ll see various grants listed under the 2010 column:

302: Roads and Bridges Grant – 175,000
304: Main Street Light Standards – 50,000
305: Build Canada Fund Grant – 400,000
306: Gas Tax Reserves – 50,000
307: Elderly Persons Centres Grant – 3,500
308: Taxes – 232,900

These numbers are pure fabrication. The real numbers for 2010 were:

302: Roads and Bridges Grant – 0
304: Main Street Light Standards – 0
305: Build Canada Fund Grant – 391,000
306: Gas Tax Reserves – 0
307: Elderly Persons Centres Grant – 0
308: Taxes – 0

Proudfoot Economics

So Tomlinson and his cronies tampered with the 2010 budget numbers to the tune of at least  $520,400.00. Why? So that it would appear that the 2011 budget increases the Tax Levy by only 0.1%, instead of reducing it by 9.5%.

But why wouldn’t the Proudfoot Four and their boot-lick Art Murdy want to crow about a 9.5% decrease in taxes?

Because operating costs for 2011 are up and the town’s income is down, creating a short-fall of about half a million dollars and the town cannot afford a 9.5% tax decrease! But the Proudfoot Four’s cottage association masters have demanded a 9.5% municipal tax decrease to offset their 9.5% property tax increase. “We paid to get you elected…”

You see, many of the Proudfoot Four’s fat-cat buddies had their waterfront properties reassessed and their property taxes went up by 38%. The provincial government, instead of hammering them for the increase all in one year, is phasing in the increase over 4 years at 9.5% per year. So by decreasing the municipal taxes by 9.5%, the Proudfoot cottagers break even.

But where will the money come from to make up the lost revenues? The reserves. Money that was saved in previous years through careful spending. And if the Proudfoot Four want to do the same thing again next year, they’ll deplete the reserves by at least another half a million. All so a few cottages don’t feel the pinch in their wallets. Kind of like dipping into your credit cards to pay your monthly bills… Eventually you’ll still have to pay the credit card bill.

That’s when the Proudfoot Four will increase taxes. So the shortfall that paid for the Proudfoot fat-cat cottagers will now be paid back by all residents of Kearney, meaning a much lower out-of-pocket expense for them and much higher out-of pocket expense for the town’s elderly, widowed, unemployed, etc. You might enjoy what appears to be an unchanged tax rate now, but in a couple of years you could see your taxes increase by 20% or more! The damage will be much worse if the Proudfoot Four decide to keep at for all 4 years of their term and leave the mess for the next council to clean up. That way they’ll be able to blame the next council when people start losing their homes. 

But it's not all bad news. Maybe in four years some of the Proudfoot Four's buddies will get to scoop up some cheap foreclosed Kearney properties.

In the meantime, the Proudfoot Four and wannabe Art Murdy will continue to try to baffle us with their numbers games (kinda like Wadsworth and Dingwall did during the election).

And Proudfoot rich get richer, while the Kearney poor get poorer.

Are you starting to see the real reason why the Proudfoot Four wanted control of the Town?

By the way: If you're okay with this, feel free to sit back and continue to do nothing. The Proudfoot Four are banking on it!