LETTER: Council is overspending

To the editor

I want the taxpayers to know that their total property taxes will be increasing, on average, 3.5 per cent this year – not 2.7 per cent as reported several times on the news in the past few weeks.

Water rate will also be increasing 7.1 per cent.

Recently, I attended at a public budget meeting. I, along with other citizens at the meeting, made many suggestions on how the mayor and councillors can lower the property tax increase.

However, our suggestions went by the wayside, and this happens every year. Last week, I also phoned a few councillors to make more suggestions and complain about the high increases, and I was told that council would not be amending this year’s budget.

Talk about what’s best for the people of Thunder Bay.

I wonder how many people are aware that Couns. Larry Hebert, Rebecca Johnson and Linda Rydholm are the only ones who did not approve the 3.5 per cent property-tax increase, and that they’re usually the ones who do not approve of the continuous over-spending from the mayor and other councillors.

Furthermore, most council members are against plebiscites – meaning we can’t have a say in what we do or do not want for this city.
This council also gives our money to various charities, organizations and businesses on a regular basis, without ever asking to see their books – yet our property taxes and water bills keep increasing every single year.

I believe that our money should never be given to any business as long as there are increases to our property tax and water bills – that is simply unfair and unjust to us, the taxpayers. It is disgusting and reprehensible the way council spends our money – which this city simply doesn’t have an abundance of.

We voted council in to represent us, but we don’t matter – they always do whatever they want, rarely asking us what we want; when they do ask us for our thoughts and opinions (which is a rare occurrence), they are not even seriously considered.

Council goes through the motions and pretends that they care about us – but we’re not stupid, we all know that actions speak louder than words!

If council did only two things (although they certainly could do a lot more) – severely cut back on their spending (this includes not approving every new project tabled before them, such as the new arena), and stopped ‘freely’ giving our money away to various businesses – the property tax rate increase alone would definitely not be as high.

However, what we all actually need to do is vote new people in, in next year’s municipal election, because this council is doing a terrible job – in so many ways, but too numerous to list in this letter.

A few people protesting is better than nothing – however, many people speaking up makes a huge difference. Please do your part if you want to see changes in the way this council spends our money.


Joanne Richard,
Thunder Bay