Are taxpayers on the hook for lack of foresight?
By Lethbridge Herald on December 9, 2022.
LH EDITORIAL BOARD
The public has spoken loudly and clearly – the approved property tax increase over the next four years in Lethbridge is unacceptable to them.
From all directions and walks of life, we are hearing loudly and clearly from readers how utterly disappointed and angry they are that Lethbridge city council has approved a budget which will in total result in property tax increases of more than 20 per cent over the next four years.
We covered budget deliberations from start to finish, more thoroughly we believe than any other media outlet in Lethbridge. We examined the reasons behind big-ticket increases for police, the land-use bylaw rewrite and the impact of inflation on City services.
A lot of issues come to play in drafting a budget and we applaud city council and administration for the time and effort they put in to craft one during these difficult economic times.
However, we can still question the process as so many in our community are. Perhaps if previous councils had not put on hold property tax increases for three years we would not be facing such an enormous annual jump.
While our civic leadership may have been acting in what they thought was the best interests of residents, maybe they were wrong. Certainly the pandemic hit hard but it should have been obvious that by failing to increase property taxes even minimally during those three years of zero increases, the piper would have to be paid eventually. And thanks in part to those zero increases, the piper is going to be paid a king’s ransom for the next four years.
Inflation and higher costs for fuel, insurance and utilities – the latter two which would have been avoidable if the UCP government had instituted or not dropped rate caps – are affecting us all.
We completely understand the higher cost of taxation due to the police budget which should never have been cut by previous council, the result of which will impact our city negatively until recruits can be hired and trained and are ready to serve.
Will the city ever recover from the impact of that cut?
Only time will tell but we do know that taxpayers are now on the hook for that lack of vision by the previous council.
The police are a vital service that this community needs fully staffed – regardless of what some in the community may feel about past transgressions by a minority of LPS members that unfairly smeared the reputation of the entire force.
Can the tax situation be fixed? Yes, it can. By city council revisiting the budget and re-examining how many initiatives it approved that are still wants and not actual needs.
How many City job hirings are necessary right now?
And what about all the money that is being given to fee-for-service groups? While everyone deserves a living wage, how much of the budget that goes to these groups is actually vital for their continued operation?
Taxpayers have told us they are livid about the upcoming tax increases and all members of council need – if they want to be re-elected by a fickle public – to make a concerted effort to revisit their decisions and see if some fat can possibly be trimmed from this expensive piece of prime rib.
The public is angry. And they may have reason to be.
18-17
Time for a witch hunt through City Hall. Way too many redundant, do-nothing, overpaid jobs, too many managers, all with their own staff. It’s no wonder were facing mammoth tax increases.
There are too many people at City Hall that need to be removed, including some on council. One person who seems to have some knowledge of the situation states the addiction crisis is costing local residents over $10 million per year, yet it grows. If you can’t do your job, find a new one!
I guess The Herald now agrees that the City’s decision to eliminate ads was a good idea to reduce the budget.
But a good point here that the budget increase is really about 3% a year over 7 years … Less than inflation.
Lest we forget the slashed funding by the UCP government to all municipalities, both urban and rural by 24% the first year and by 32% in the 2020-21 fiscal year. Our reeve/country councillor in our rural municipal district told us openly, that our significant increase in our property taxes was a direct result of this, along with unpaid oil and gas taxes. Just yet another reason we will be voting for the AB NDP in May who will hopefully fix some/most of this disastrous UCP mess.
The NDP started the crisis by opening their safe drug consumption site! I will never vote NDP especially for Phillips.
City administration and the police = I hear nothing, I see nothing, I say nothing! I want my downtown back, NOW.
Maybe the plan is to kill downtown, lowering property values, so the city administration’s real estate pals can buy the properties, then the city actually does it’s job and cleans up downtown, property values go up and their pals win big, sharing the spoils. Of course there is no corruption at city hall, right. If LPS why not City Hall.
Just thinking out loud!
Interesting
perhaps not far off the mark at all. one way for us know more: AUDITS. how in the world can this city not have audits, save, perhaps, to avoid transparency. it is my feeling there has been a lot of waste, inefficiency, and maybe, some significant concerns in relation to land/real estate deals involving the city. might the herald be at all keen to follow the money for us? i would indeed buy a subscription for anything that is investigative with regard to aspects of our city finances.
A bit off topic… Re land / real estate deals, does anyone remember when the City had acquired all of the land around the intersection of MMgrath and Scenic Dr, to be held for a future interchange? Then suddenly Council decided we wouldn’t ever need that interchange, so sold off the land to “Friends”. Don’t you all think we could use that interchange today?
did not know this – another example of why we need audits?
We need to build a county jail, bring up that Texas Sheriff who made the news for being tough on crime and inmates, making them wear pink jumpsuits-underwear and feeding them bologne sandwiches. Zero perks. Get him to build a force to patrol our streets and operate the jail Texas style. 😁