PROPERTY TAXES AND FIRE HALL EXPENDITURES: NEEDS OR WANTS? Earlier in the term of this council, there was an effort made to involve the Ontario Fire Marshall’s Office in our Fire Hall expenditure debate. After the Ontario Fire Marshall’s Office made it clear that it is not in their mandate to order municipalities to expand their Fire Departments, the Town hired a consulting firm to determine what expenditures are “needed” at The Fire Hall. That study was not completed because of a personal unfortunate circumstance. However, a report was filed with a recommendation to hire two more full time employees at the Fire Hall as well as a recommendation for a major construction project. As a very famous trial lawyer recently said on CNN, there are professionals of all types who, for a fee, “will tell you whatever you want to hear”. It seems odd that an incomplete study could lead to a conclusion that we” need” to spend a considerable amount of money at the Fire Hall and that we “need” to hire two more full time Fire Hall employees. Many residents believe that the consultant’s conclusions were a product of the input from the Fire Hall and some politicians, to cater to the Fire Department’s “wish list” and that the real long term agenda may be to employ a full time paid fire fighting force. All municipalities are compelled to provide fire services to their residents and we are in compliance with that requirement. Our low home insurance rates are a reflection of the excellent fire services provided to the community and a major expenditure at the Fire Hall will not lower those insurance costs to any meaningful extent, if at all. We are providing adequate fire services with the existing Fire Hall and that leads most residents to conclude that ANY expenditure at the Fire Hall is a “want” and not a “need”. Our municipal structures must be in compliance with the Ontario Disabilities Act within ten years and the installation of an elevator will be considerably less costly than building completely new structures. There is no advantage to the residents of Espanola to the building of a new Fire Hall, rather, the expenditure of millions of dollars for a new structure and creating two more full time positions will add nothing more than an additional tax burden to our over taxed ratepayers. The building of either a new Town Hall or new Fire Hall will only benefit those few individuals who actually use these buildings and it is from those small groups that the determined effort is coming from to spend tax dollars on their pet projects. The bottom line is that residents simply do not accept the contention that the Fire Hall is inadequate and there is great opposition among residents to a major expenditure and many are opposed to ANY expenditure at the Fire Hall. Council is fully aware of the opposition to this but it appears as though they will plough ahead regardless……this is another fine example of representative democracy Espanola style. This council will, in all likelihood, sign a contract for a new Fire Hall and hire two full time employees even though each councillor is very aware of the opposition to this. Residents are opposed for one reason; they do not want property taxes to increase, which is exactly what one councillor candidly told me. There is absolutely no animosity towards anyone at the Fire Hall, nor is there a lack of appreciation for their service. Just as it is with the policing issue, this is only about finances. As the tax burden shifted from the Domtar plant to residents over the last 12 years, we began feeling the true cost of years of reckless spending and we knew we were getting fleeced but The McSweeny Tax Survey proved what residents knew all along, and, for some cocky politicians, the Tax Survey data is not what they wanted or expected to hear. Then, Bill Foster Published his PW and Police cost study and that completed the story; our tax rate is defiantly high and now we know why. The tax rate is having a direct impact on Espanola’s ability to expand our population, attract new businesses and it also acts as a deterrent for the residents who want to invest in their properties. Domtar is not making any substantial investment in their Plant and that cannot be good for our future. The Pulp and Paper plant shed hundreds of jobs over the years and that directly impacted our population level. Our aging infrastructure will cost us millions each year to maintain. The Province is more broke than ever and we will be losing grants. How do our politicians react to all this? The message from them is that we simply cannot make any changes anywhere; in Policing, in Public Works, in Recreation….the only thing we can do is keep taking from reserves, increasing taxes, hire more people, construct new buildings, borrow more money, buy more equipment for PW and keep eating in restaurants on the taxpayer’s VISA. There has not been a concerted effort on the part of this council to do anything long term and meaningful about our operating costs and, in the midst of all the challenges which face our town, at a very financially unfortunate time, we have the Fire Department with a multimillion dollar wish list doggedly pursued by a politician (Tim Howard) who was elected with a hidden agenda to spend the big bucks at the Fire Hall and, as if that was not bad enough, he sold the taxpayer out by giving the police exorbitant severance packages. Jill Beer reneged on a campaign promise to encourage council to apply for an OPP costing proposal and instead worked hard on ensuring that the EPS would be expensive and complicated to disband. We, the taxpayer, especially those who intend on living out their days here, have very good reason to be annoyed and we’d be interested in knowing how many of those who are so “gung ho” to borrow lots of money, will be around here in the years to come to help pay that money back and help maintain our town? We expect our politicians to take care of the Town’s finances as though it was their own money…..most of these politicians would not recklessly spend money in their private lives, nor would they hire employees they do not need and, If, for example, their premiums increase for their home or auto insurance, would they not look for a less expensive alternative? Many of these politicians live in older homes, as I do, and I doubt if any of them are considering demolishing and rebuilding, yet, when it comes to tax dollars, they can barely wait to open the wallet. There is a very good reason why, during the 2010 election campaign, Tim Howard, Jill Beer or any candidate, did not stand in front of the community and pledge to build a new Fire Hall, to build a new Town Hall and to do whatever is necessary to keep the OPP out of Espanola. The reason why they did not say that is because they knew very well that if they had said those things, they would never have been elected. We are looking forward to Howard’s and Beer’s campaign platform…..hopefully they will be honest this time around.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 19:25:17 +0000
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