BradfordToday and InnisfilToday welcome letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication).
We make decisions daily that affect ourselves and our families. Some of our political leaders make decisions that can affect an entire municipality.
As the number of people affected rises, so does the responsibility to make the best decision, armed with the best information.
Our level of consumption is limited by our income, and we all endeavour to live within our means. So often we face decisions where we must consider affordability and value. Will we receive the expected value for the money being spent?
When considering personal budgets, we must be mindful of our needs, wants and affordability. The largest expense most residents make is the purchase of a house. Prospective homeowners are now considering, in addition to the current property taxes on a home, the rate of property tax increases.
This, of course, addresses the growing trend to giving more consideration to the affordability of the purchase, beyond the traditional mortgage and interest payments.
As municipalities face runaway budgets and see property taxes rising at multiple times the rate of inflation each year, we need to ask ourselves what is the ideal relationship of salaries and benefits to the amount of revenue from property taxes? What is the sweet spot for affordability and value? Should municipal staffing consume 40 per cent, 50 per cent, 60 per cent or even more of the budget?
What is the average percentage of the budget for the 444 municipalities? How do we know if we are overspending, underspending, or have right sized the budget for salaries and benefits?
What is the benchmark provided by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing?
Is our municipality making financially responsible decisions that reflect the needs and wants of the residents?
These questions beg for answers.
This thesis leads to the concept of the 'race to the bottom.' How little can we personally spend to achieve what we want in life and provide good value? How little can our municipal government spend to garner the praise and satisfaction from residents that it is functioning efficiently, that it is financially responsibly, and that it is respectful of the residents’ desire for affordability?
What do we need to spend on a house, an automobile, a vacation, the basket of food, a restaurant meal, or on municipal salaries and benefits to reach the sweet spot of affordability and good value? A dollar for your thoughts!
Why should we worry? Property taxes represent the largest non-elective annual expense of home ownership. It is myopic not to consider the financial and social ramifications of inattention to this concern.
In the political world, our elected municipal officials work for and are paid by the residents. They are responsible to the residents to make decisions that reflect affordability, for today and tomorrow. The willingness and ability to listen to residents’ concerns is paramount.
Our goal should be to right size our homes, our living expenses and our municipal government. We all have the ability to determine where that sweet spot is in the race to the bottom. They are value decisions.
Something to think about.
David Jones
Tiny Township