"Like Drunken Sailors": Cities Need to be Audited

Yesterday, Toronto released it's 2009 budget. Property taxes went up 4% but combined with other taxes the city now charges, the actual tax burden for Torontonians increased 10%. This is typical of many GTA municipalities. In Mississauga, property taxes increased about 4.4% but also came with increased service charges and transit fee hikes. Milton increased their property taxes by 6%. It's interesting to note that this is significantly higher than the rate of inflation would warrant. However, the quality of city provided services do not seem to be improving. Road building has been put on hold region wide, garbage collection is getting irregular, parks are getting dirty and untended, water quality is declining. Any resident of the GTA has to ask themselves where all this money is going if it's not being reflected upon in the services we receive.

Of course, then there's all the stuff you here about the colossal amount of waste that goes on at city halls across the region. Milton for example has spent several hundred thousand dollars to install a custom made glass wall, imported from Britain, in it's new town hall. Milton's mayor Gord Krantz jetted off to China last year on tax payer dollars to attend a conference along with other GTA mayors. Toronto's mayor David Miller takes the cake though for wasteful spending, including the multi-million dollar renovation of his own office, 70km of new bike paths that nobody wanted, 30 some odd new programs the city can't afford, a needless restoration of Nathan Phillips Square and Union Station, "green" hybrid transit buses that break down, his jet setting to international environmental conferences to push the city's green initiatives, and hugely bloated office budgets. One of this expenses included paying $80,000 for a woman to water plants in councilors' offices. I wish I had that job. Halton region uses three trucks to pick up garbage, green bin, and recycling while US municipalities use only one. Each truck is manned by two men. Toronto's NDP council has given into union demands for exorbitant wage hikes, which the city cannot afford. This equates to vote buying. The city has refused to contract out work, which would save money, and has replaced current contracted jobs with public service union ones. This is only the tip of the iceberg for questionable spending at the region's city halls.

Lets face facts here, we have a major problem on our hands when it comes to how Ontario's municipalities spend tax dollars. Every time the federal or provincial budget comes out, you hear the mayors screaming for more funding from the higher levels. It is true that cities are now paying for things that they didn't used to, such as welfare, but there is just so much waste, it's mind boggling. Right now, we are in a recession. Money is tighter than ever and yet the cities are asking for more and more tax money. Money that people just don't have. A lot of people are being forced out of their homes simply because they cannot afford to pay what the city wants. This is part of why Toronto has seen a massive exodus of residents in the last year. Housing is cheaper outside of the city.

Cities say they have a massive funding shortfall and cannot afford to pay for services, and therefore have to raise taxes by huge amounts. However, there is a great deal of questionable practices going on. It's time the Province stepped in and did something about the issue. Ontario needs to appoint a series of independent auditors and ombudsmen to dive into the books of our municipalities in order to get a clear picture of what's really going on. It's obvious that they cannot keep their own houses in order and unfortunately, this is the only way we're going to get some answers and solve the problem. Additionally, Ontario needs to repeal the City of Toronto Act to remove the special taxation powers and extended terms the McGuinty government foolishly gave to municipalities. All it has done is open the door to more mismanagement and corruption. Lastly, please, get out there and vote in your next municipal election. One of the reasons that city councils aren't being transparent to citizens is because nobody votes, so they don't care what they do. By not voting, you're basically giving these people who get in again and again free reign to do whatever they want.