I read with great interest the article regarding our city council, bragging about holding the tax level to a 2.6 per cent increase. How lucky we taxpayers are to have such a parsimonious group of councillors working on our behalf.
It’s also comforting to realize that the art of magic is still alive and well in the city of Red Deer.
In the article the 2.6 per cent increase was highlighted, but if one read further, we learned that many other charges were going up, some as high as eight per cent.
When I look back at my taxes in previous years, I calculate we have seen an increase of more than 40 per cent in property taxes in the past eight years.
It seems that the council members forget this when they brag about holding the line at 2.6 per cent, never mentioning this is 2.6 per cent on top of the five or six per cent raise we suffered last year and the years before.
The other thing that we don’t talk about is the amount of debt this council has put on the backs of the citizens of Red Deer.
When I drive past the new city yards, I get a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing that my tax dollar has been used to create such a five-star home for our snow ploughs, trucks and busses.
As with previous city projects, we will never know the real cost of this project, as the magicians on city council, allow administration to manipulate the numbers to keep the taxpayers happy.
Fortunately, we are only six months away from the municipal election which will hopefully give taxpayers a chance to replace this tax and spend council with people that have some understanding of the pressures on the average citizen in this city.
When I read the Advocate I get the impression that this council and the city manager still don’t get it. As Canadians, we are taxed to death and we just can’t take it anymore.
George Croome
Red Deer