My response to the 2014 Regional budget: Its an election budget, alright. This was bang on analysis of the Waterloo Regional budget in the Kitchener Post. “All this last-minute financial flexibility allowed regional council to pass a pre-election budget that looks good at first glance, but defers tough decisions in order to have little impact in areas like social services, staffing and program spending that would have caused real political fallout. They dodged a bullet and they know it. All this budget process has really done is pass those tough decisions on to the next council.” First, maintaining the discretionary benefits was the right decision, as was making some of that funding permanent. These benefits are still largely maintenance of the status quo. It will preserve some of the supports to people facing poverty, but won’t fix the growing poverty, housing, and shelter use challenges we are facing. But the alternative – cutting the last line of defence – is much worse. Council should be lauded for approving a greater contribution to discretionary benefits than had been recommended, and making some of this permanent. Troubling for me, as was pointed out in the Post editorial, is the lack of long-term financial thinking. One of my three priority areas is “Fiscal Responsibility.” In my opinion, one aspect of fiscal responsibility is in not making the (politically) easier short-term decision which will end up costing us more in the end. This year has brought on a growing waiting-list for child-care subsidies. This support for childcare is essential to help low-income working families maintain employment and for people on social assistance to go to work, or go back to school to improve skills and be more competitive in the labour market. Instead, with an influx of provincial money, the opportunity was taken to cut the regional tab so as to keep tax levies lower. Due to this cut, the wait list is expected to return by the summer. What will this mean for next year or the year after? That will be another council’s responsibility. Also troubling is the decision to cut the scheduled tax levy to pay for the Regional Transportation Master Plan (RTMP). This levy has been scheduled to 2018. Instead of following the plan – adopted by this council – the levy for this year alone was chopped. This is not a tax cut – it’s a tax deferred. We will still pay for this in the end, and will actually pay more. By deferring it, we’ll pay 12.9% more, instead of 12.3%, to implement the RTMP. But we won’t pay for it in an election year, which seems to be the difference. There were other moves to cheer, such as Rob Deutschmann’s motion to engage the community in a long-term policing plan. It’s essential that our community can have an impact on how policing is delivered for – and by – the community. But in the end, what frustrates me – and motivates me to be a voice around that table – is the short-term financial thinking when a long-term view would better serve our community. It saved a few taxpayer dollars this year, but will cost us more in the long-run. And in the end, it’s the long-run that matters. As the Post said: “It’s exactly the type of budget you expect politicians to pass with a municipal election looming. They could have and should have done better.” Kitchener Post Editorial: kitchenerpost.ca/opinion/this-is-an-election-budget/ See the post at: camerondearlove.ca/2014/01/17/election-budget-alright/
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 21:30:01 +0000