To the editor:
William Lyon Mackenzie once noted that today’s campaign promises are tomorrow’s taxes.
Any candidate who proposes to freeze taxes while improving or even maintaining services can’t do the math. Taxes pay for services. Look what has happened every time a municipality has fallen for that promise.
Services decline and the city goes into debt. In a wave of regret, the people elect a new administration next time around and are faced with a large tax increase in one year rather than the reasonable, manageable, smaller increases that would have been levied over four years had common sense prevailed.
No one likes taxes, but we need them to pay for the things we want like police officers, cleaner parks, fire-fighting equipment and decent roads.
Under the leadership of Lynn Peterson, Thunder Bay has its first strategic plan to provide long-term direction, an integrated asset management plan to ensure that our infrastructure receives upgrading, a long-term tax strategy to realign taxes to achieve fairness and competitiveness, and an active transportation plan to include bike lanes throughout the city, just to name a few accomplishments.
Give me a small tax increase to improve our city over the empty promises of a reactionary any day.
William Lyon Mackenzie once noted that today’s campaign promises are tomorrow’s taxes.
Any candidate who proposes to freeze taxes while improving or even maintaining services can’t do the math. Taxes pay for services. Look what has happened every time a municipality has fallen for that promise.
Services decline and the city goes into debt. In a wave of regret, the people elect a new administration next time around and are faced with a large tax increase in one year rather than the reasonable, manageable, smaller increases that would have been levied over four years had common sense prevailed.
No one likes taxes, but we need them to pay for the things we want like police officers, cleaner parks, fire-fighting equipment and decent roads.
Under the leadership of Lynn Peterson, Thunder Bay has its first strategic plan to provide long-term direction, an integrated asset management plan to ensure that our infrastructure receives upgrading, a long-term tax strategy to realign taxes to achieve fairness and competitiveness, and an active transportation plan to include bike lanes throughout the city, just to name a few accomplishments.
Give me a small tax increase to improve our city over the empty promises of a reactionary any day.
Cindy Long,
Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay
