Why was Mayor Miller euphoric and being a spin doctor when he should be embarrassed? A good mayor would have the financial reporting system in place and be reporting in January how the city did in 2009 according to plan! This should be done before presenting the 2010 budget!
A surplus exists when Operating Revenue exceeds Operating Costs. So what major items in revenue and costs did not match your budget forecast and why?
Were the tax revenue estimates off_ that is, too low? Is staff not capable of putting the needed information systems in place? Did the city economy not suffer during the Great Recession? Do we have the right managerial qualifications on the city Budget Committee?
This is what Mayor Miller should have been speaking to. Instead he talks about reducing the rate of increase in the city property tax by 1% or about $40-50 a year and reviewing planned user fee increases. He need not bother about the 1% _ it is just too small. We need to be keeping our eye on the ball and apparently he and his budget team do not. What happened between February and March_ less than 3 weeks is the big question! What things of priority can now be done with the extra money but couldn't fit in under the budget cutoff?
Our mayor in February's presentation seems happy to talk about keeping the city tax rate lowest in the GTA! Then he complains about the lack of city awareness in the federal budget.
How is Toronto looking in the senior level finance offices when it finds "surplus" in a time of major deficits and claims lowest taxes while the senior levels squirm to lower costs as revenues dropped?
This is the stuff of political embarrassment. It will be hard to keep the hand out for the 1 Cent GST thingy anymore. It will be hard to argue for more infrastructure money when $300 million is pulled from the magic hat. It will be hard to understand why roads are crumbling, parks look shabby, the city justifies other revenue sources like Vehicle Licensing and Land Transfer taxes.
Let's hope this "surplus" magic becomes part of the election campaign discussion in our ward.
Note - in our February posts (Structural Deficits, Budget Discussion) there are links to "opinion" pieces that have sound suggestions on the needed changes to the city's financial reporting and budget preparation and when and how the mayor should the financial state of the city.
No comments:
Post a Comment