We're smack dab in the middle of budget deliberations at City Hall. Council has yet to dig its teeth into any serious cuts -- we're still in the process of hearing presentations from each department -- so it will be interesting to see how the process will unfold over the next few weeks.
There's been a lot of talk about whether it will be possible to get down to a 0 per cent increase. (CATCH has written an article about some surprising comments from the Chamber last week that's well worth a read). But it appears Toronto's city council has been able to pull it off. Last week, they approved a 0.16 per cent in residential taxes, which works out to less than $5 for the average homeowner.
Granted, Toronto dipped very heavily into their reserves to make that happen. That's very scary, especially since the T-dot is facing a $774 million shortfall in 2012 (which virtually guarantees a tax hike).
Hamilton will have to cut $19 million if it wants to get down to zero. They will also have to reject all of the enhancements the city's departments have requested (things like hiring extra employees, more $$ for projects, etc).
So, what do you think? Can we get down to zero?
If municipal staff aren't willing to cut the bloat, Council should hire someone who will, that's how Toronto proposes to find savings for next year. I found millions upon millions in savings just cutting consulting fees. I also found hundreds of pet projects and ward-heeling nonsense that should also be cut. Local politicians should just get on with it.
Posted by: Mark-Alan Whittle | 03/02/2011 at 08:59 PM