"The 2012 budget was passed by council on December 16th. ZERO increase in the tax bill for "Joe Average"! The increase in revenue for the town is due to growth and improvements. Reserves have been added to, reduction in debts, investments of funds improved to add revenue and an overall effort by all to improve efficiencies has assisted in bringing in a responsible budget."
-- Deputy Mayor Louise Wadsworth, December 20, 2011
But the actual budget (fast-tracked by the Proudfoot Four) reveals that revenues are down, there has been no growth, and Surplus money was diverted from the Reserves (Kearney's emergency savings) to offset the reduced revenues. Like Tomlinson, Wadsworth is trying to bamboozle us so we won't notice that the budget's 9.5% decrease in municipal property taxes dovetails perfectly with the 9.5% increase in provincial property taxes her friends were nailed with when MPAC reassessed their waterfront cottages in Proudfoot. Or maybe she just doesn't have a clue.
But we notice that Wadsworth, like Tomlinson, always steers clear of actually saying "9.5%". If you were on council and were able to legitimately reduce taxes by 9.5% wouldn't you be yelling it from the rooftops? But if you were going to wreck the town so you could save your rich buddies some money you'd probably keep it to yourself and just call it a "ZERO increase in the tax bill for Joe Average", right?
But we notice that Wadsworth, like Tomlinson, always steers clear of actually saying "9.5%". If you were on council and were able to legitimately reduce taxes by 9.5% wouldn't you be yelling it from the rooftops? But if you were going to wreck the town so you could save your rich buddies some money you'd probably keep it to yourself and just call it a "ZERO increase in the tax bill for Joe Average", right?
Here's the real picture according to the 2012 Budget (available on the Town of Kearney website):
Predicted revenue for 2012: $3,790,106
(Down 25% from 2011 revenues of $5,051,096.
(Down 25% from 2011 revenues of $5,051,096.
Deputy Mayor Wadsworth thinks this is "an increase in revenue".)
Subtract operating costs for 2012: $3,555,330
=========
=========
Equals: $234,776
(This is the money the town needs for "Capital Investments".
(This is the money the town needs for "Capital Investments".
In other words: Roads, bridges, docks, building and vehicle
maintenance, and so on.)
Subtract "Capital Investment" costs predicted in the budget for 2012: $1,667,178
========
========
EQUALS: $-1,432,402
So by the end of 2012 the Town of Kearney will be in the hole by over 1.4 Million Dollars!
But, Deputy Mayor Wadsworth calls this "a responsible budget".
Are you surprised?
No comments:
Post a Comment