On Monday, February 18th, the Kearney Budget Committee held a public meeting to present the Draft 2013 Budget. The first question we asked ourselves was “What are they trying to hide?” Otherwise, why else would the Wadsworth/Tomlinson/Dingwall team call a meeting on a Monday morning in the middle of February?
Not surprisingly, four members of the public showed up, and to ensure minimal scrutiny of the draft budget, copies were handed out at the last second before the meeting started. In spite of these measures to avoid openness and transparency, some pretty good questions were asked and some very disturbing non-answers were provided.
“How can you cut the Roads Department budget when the cost of gravel and the cost of fuel to haul that gravel have gone up, and the distance to haul that gravel has increased?”
Answer from the Budget Committee: Duh... What?
“There have been several articles in the media recently about Northern Ontario municipalities facing huge rollbacks on property taxes due to reduced reassessments of properties.”
Answer from the Budget Committee: Duh... What?
It was pointed out to the Budget Committee that Kearney’s property reassessments are down by an average of more than 5% which means immediate tax reductions, immediate refunds, and the greater ability to appeal previous assessments, leading to more immediate refunds. Meanwhile, increased assessments, if any, are phased-in gradually over four years. That means Wadsworth will need to raise the tax rate in 2013 just to maintain the 2012 revenue level which already did not meet the operational needs of the town. Wadsworth was asked how much she estimated the tax rate would be increased for 2013. Wadsworth checked her Etch-a-sketch…
Answer: Duh... What?
Maybe a little help… “10 to 12%?”
Duh... What?
Wadsworth and Tomlinson are frantically trying to get the 2013 Budget approved before anyone has a chance to scrutinize the details, but the financial consultant they hired suggested waiting until the 2012 audit was done in March and approve the budget in April. Of course, Tomlinson, Wadsworth, and “Nowhere to be Seen” Dingwall don’t want to wait because after the 2012 audit, they will have nobody to blame when the proverbial shit budget hits the fan.
Remember 2012? The budget was passed in December 2011 and in March 2012 the people of Kearney discovered a $600,000 deficit, and a new budget had to be issued in June. Tomlinson, who has yet to take any responsibility for anything, blamed the recently departed treasurer, a computer glitch, sunspots, and leprechauns. Now, for year-end 2012 Tomlinson and Wadsworth are forecasting a $50,000 surplus.
Wow, a minor miracle. A $600,000 deficit in March and nine months later a 25,000 Pound baby is born. We did the conversion to Pounds to support our hugely witty metaphor.
But seriously, how was this miraculous turnaround accomplished? Two ways. Cut everything to the bone, and then some, and then take the shortfall out of Reserves. So, where are the Town’s Reserves these days you may ask? These details were also only handed out just as the budget meeting began, but our preliminary assessment suggests that Kearney's Reserves are not being replenished, that they have been tapped into every year since this council took office and by next year they will be virtually depleted. Because taxes were cut by 9.5% in 2011 and another 9.5% in 2012 while more than $500,000 was taken from Reserves, the Town of Kearney has no budget room left to meet unforeseen glitches like the massive downward reassessments that Tomlinson and Wadsworth had no clue about. And let's not forget that we're already seeing increased debt because the town had to take out a $200,000 loan for bridge maintenance.
Meanwhile we continue to carry a $100,000/year Chief Building Official (CBO) who barely managed to bring in about $30,000 last year in building permits. When asked why we carry this prohibitive cost year after year while unreasonable cuts are being made to fundamental services, and a $200,000 bridge reconstruction loan was necessary, the answer Wadsworth gave was, “Well, we need a CBO and we have found other things for him to do.” Yes, right. Useless septic inspections? That was supposed to bring in $10,500 in inspection fees on the backs of our elderly and poor but due to the huge public outcry, they backed off on that one. When the issue was forced, Wadsworth desperately stepped away from the party line and said they were looking at other options to reduce the cost of the CBO. Really? How about getting rid of him and entering into a shared arrangement like every other municipality in our area? What Wadsworth couldn’t say however is that a shared CBO is likely not going to happen because Tomlinson has pissed off all the other municipal leaders and any arrangement involving Tomlinson just isn't an option.
So folks, our expectation is that the CBO surcharge over 4 years of this council will be $260,000 of your tax dollars and a complete depletion of Kearney’s Reserves. It is pretty clear that this legacy will be passed onto the next council to sort out, so our suggestion is, pay better attention who you vote for next time, because this time we have all been had.
Are you surprised?
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