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"Stop Over-Spending" Rally in London 03 Oct.

a_majoor

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Another one of my pet causes:

http://forestcityinstitute.ca/?page_id=447

London S.O.S. (Stop Over-Spending) Rally!


Did you Know?

London’s property taxes have increased by more than 31% since 2000, while supplementary fees have increased an astounding 60%, vastly outstripping the rate of inflation; economic growth or real wage increases over the same time period?

Despite the huge increase in taxes and spending London consistently places in the “top ten” for Ontario’s worst roads.

High taxes and unfriendly regulation has resulted in London having the second highest unemployment level in Ontario?

As a result of declining economic opportunities, the median income of Londoners is $10,000 per year lower than 30 similar Canadian cities?

Is this the city council we want?

It’s time to make your voices heard.

On October 3 2009 from 12:00pm until 2:00pm, the Forest City Institute invites you to join us at Reg Cooper Square (behind City Hall) and let London’s city council and bureaucrats know it is time to end London’s decade of darkness.

 
Did you see the coverage of the London Health Sciences spending issue?  $3 million in sole-sourced contracts doled out without bid by the female VP of IT (can'd remember her name) to someone she used to work with at Union Gas. 

The part that drives me nuts about this is that although the LHS have known about this since May, the only reason the public knows anything is a whistleblower released internal documents to A-Channel about it this month.

Why the heck do they have the right to keep such an issue silent?  It's public money! 

The other one that nearly sent me into a rage was the LTC drivers/mechanics asking for 11%/3%/3% over the next three years.  They interviewed the LTC Union Rep and his comment was: "Well the Federal Government has come to the table with an extra $54 million (which is the wrong number) and so we want our cut."

Bottom Line:  I'm totally with you....how the politician here deal with taxpayer money is appalling....then we can afford more metal trees to beautify he downtown.


Matthew.  >:(
 
You're not alone out there in London.

I can't think of a single government (rural municipal district, municipal, provincial, or federal) which isn't somehow tainted with the same habits.

Personally - I hate the increase usage of "user fees" for many services.  It seems that the "menu" of services offered by governments haven't necessarily expanded, but the provision of those services must be funded by previously unknown "user fees".  And yet, tax rates seem to increase more than can be explained by inflation, etcetera.

The Forest City Institute seems to have done a good job of tracking the various expense increases and revenue increases in your neck of the woods - good on them.
 
Roy Harding said:
Personally - I hate the increase usage of "user fees" for many services.  It seems that the "menu" of services offered by governments haven't necessarily expanded, but the provision of those services must be funded by previously unknown "user fees".  And yet, tax rates seem to increase more than can be explained by inflation, etcetera.
What's ironic is that some politicians, when pondering budgets, actually like the idea of increasing user fees because they can crow about how the tax rate is (frozen/not increased as much as planned).  A quick review:  how many pockets are there on the taxpayer?  One, folks!  ::)
 
>And yet, tax rates seem to increase more than can be explained by inflation, etcetera.

Over the long term (eg. several contracts), how many public sector compensation packages do you think have merely kept pace with economic growth?  I doubt the number is much greater than zero.  Each contract's incremental growth above the mean growth line has to come from somewhere.

If we could set the minimum wage at $40/hr, we'd just do it and be happy.  No-one seriously proposes that to be workable.  Although wealth creation and allocation is not a zero-sum game over the long term, for any given year's "net" it is a zero-sum game.  If more is allocated arbitrarily to some purposes, less must be available for others.  The pie grows, but more slowly.
 
I was discussing recent taxes in urban areas. The average earner is losing on the backs of Public Service and Unions IMO.
 
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