Dear Editor,
After reading Mark Thiessen’s letter in the Sept. 22 Barrhead Leader, I am compelled to point out the underlying reason for discontent. Your letter appeared on page 12A while on page 2A, I read about the county council boasting about brimming coffers and recordbreaking bank balances of 22 million.
It is not so much about the amount of the tax increase as it is about what is fair and amenable. A good municipal government needs open and honest communication with its voting constituents. Councillors knew about these rising problems years ago but kept quiet, then backroom levered negotiations with neighbouring interests resulted in defeated trust.
We were in this boat years ago when the town borrowed for the water treatment plant, we were told then repayment would take five years. We are still paying for that cash cow.
In 10 years my property tax has doubled and the in-town amenities have gone down. Why should the residents of town foot this bill, whose majority are seniors on a fixed income and will never see the inside of the pool?
The amenities in town are used by three times the number of out-of-towners. County denizens come for hockey, skating, swimming, dance, the library, judo, baseball, fuel, our hospital, and the medical clinics, plus our hospitality in food and drink. Is that fair trade?
Why is Barrhead’s property tax the highest in the land, this side of Edmonton, and only going up? What measures are our councillors taking to lower this problem that affects our ability to resell and therefore property values? There is no housing, employment programs, or business expansion! Did you notice all the questions marks?
Now we reach the root of the problem, there are more questions than answers, and we wonder why residents are angry. Global financial crisis and regional recession and bank failures and country bankruptcies and tax increases that go on forever; where does it end? Isn’t that what happened to the PC party? What happened to responsibility to the people instead of dumping the weight on them? In today’s construction market with cost overrides we will see another tax increase in the coming years. Temperance in the eye of the storm.
Wayne Krechuniak
