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Former Mayor Larry Di Ianni and Mr. Ecklund's daughter Erika
ARCHIVED POSTS:
- The Affordable Connaught: Lessons Learned (September 21, 2009)
- Do Canadians Want A Federal Election? (September 17, 2009)
- Amalgamation Revisited (September 14, 2009)
- Whither or Should that be Wither the Connaught? (September 11, 2009)
- Hamilton- a City of Philanthropists (September 8, 2009)
- Who is Canada's Political Lion(August 31, 2009)
- Bloggers Beware: you are not as invisible as you think!(August 28, 2009)
- Redeemer College University: A Deserving Member of Hamilton’s Education City (August 24, 2009)
- What's New About the NDP? (August 19, 2009)
- Is Neighbourhood Planning the Art of the Possible?(August 12, 2009)
- Integrity Commissioner’s First Investigation: Much Ado About Nothing (August 10, 2009)
- Et Tu Hamilton? Did our city just throw Balsillie’s hopes under a bus?(August 5, 2009)
- A Fine Finesse or a Fine Mess? The Opening of the Financial Floodgates (July 31, 2009)
- The Politics of Floods (July 28, 2009)
- Sundry Summer Thoughts, 2009 (July 23, 2009)
- James Street Revitilization and Rev. Ron Burridge (July 21, 2009)
- A Review of My New Year’s Predictions (July 13, 2009)
- Transformers in Winona: Revenge of the Changelings (July 10, 2009)
- The Virtues of Tax Increases (Or Not!) (July 9, 2009)
- Council’s Plan for Future Development (July 2, 2009)
- Hamilton's Self-Esteem (June 26, 2009)
- Da Rally, Da Media and Di Manno (June 22, 2009)
- Balsillie Has Done the Heavy Lifting; It is Now Time for Hamilton to Act (June 15, 2009)
- Mady Development in Winona (June 5, 2009)
- NDP Impotence is Costing Hamilton Federal Support (June 2, 2009)
- Metrolinx Appoints New Board (May 29, 2009)
- Accountability and Transparency Committee Misses the Mark (May 27, 2009)
- Mourning Randy Steele (May 25, 2009)
- Success at Hess Village? (May 22, 2009)
- Boosterism or Realism: these should not be the options for the City of Hamilton! (May 20, 2009)
- Council's Role and
the NHL (May 14, 2009)
- Sundry Spring Thoughts (May 8, 2009)
- Is the City of Burlington Hamilton's Friend or Rival? (May 5, 2009)
- The Church of the Universe
and Hamilton Politics (April 29, 2009)
- Pandemic Response: Is Hamilton Ready? (April 27, 2009)
- Ambassador Robert Fowler’s Hamilton Connection (April 23, 2009)
- Healthcare and Hamilton Politics (April 21, 2009)
- Administrative Changes Continue in Hamilton (April 17, 2009)
- Devastating Earthquake in Central Italy (April 13, 2009)
- Waste Management and
the City Budget (April 7, 2009)
- GoTransit and Metrolinx Merger: Benefits and Implications (April 1, 2009)
- Ontario’s Budget: A Risky Proposition or a Sure Thing? (March 30, 2009)
- Environment Hamilton: Methinks the group doth protest too much? (March 26, 2009)
- Term Limits: Pros and Cons (March 23, 2009)
- Tim Hudak: Leader in Waiting? (March 18, 2009)
- The Winds of Change (March 9, 2009)
- Planning Matters: An Interesting Planning Committee Discussion (March 6, 2009)
- Mourning The Steel Company of Canada (March 4, 2009)
- Marketing Our City: Tourism Hamilton’s Excellent Adventure (March 3, 2009)
- Media Crisis Hits Hamilton Hard (February 27, 2009)
- King of NIMBY Fights City Hall (February 23, 2009)
- Impoverishing the Future (February 20, 2009)
- Of Roasts and Toasts And Politics And Such (February 17, 2009)
- Pan-Am Games: Should Hamilton Participate? (February 12, 2009)
- Governing in Tough Economic Times (February 9, 2009)
- Winter Blahs and Wow Factors (February 4, 2009)
- Municipal Service Centers: Unifying the City has a cost (February 2, 2009)
- The Federal Budget Deserves Support (January 28, 2009)
- NDP Hypocrisy Hurts
50,000 York U Students (January 26, 2009)
- Appearances Can Be Deceiving: the Case for the Elfrida Node (January 22, 2009)
- "Events, Dear Boy, Events" (January 19, 2009)
- The Burdens of Office
(January 13, 2009)
- Federal NDP Caucus Lets Hamilton Down (January 12, 2009)
- The South Pole and Anti-Business: A Relationship? (January 9, 2009)
- Hamilton's Future Fund: A Success Story (January 7, 2009)
- Forecasts for the Year 2009 (January 2, 2009)
- New Year's Resolutions for Local and World Leaders (December 30, 2008)
- NDP Convention May be a Barn-burner! (December 26, 2008)
- Peak Oil and Airport Lands Development in the City of Hamilton (December 23, 2008)
- A Christmas Story (December 19, 2008)
- Hamilton Economic Summit and Hamiltonians For Progressive Development: A Tale of Two Approaches To Hamilton's Economic Future (December 17, 2008)
- Hamilton Mourns Chester Waxman (December 15, 2008)
- The Politics of Division At City Hall (December 12, 2008)
- Sundry Thoughts: On Local, Provincial and Federal Issues (December 10, 2008)
- The Recurring City Hall Debate: And It's Not Even Ground Hog Day Yet! (December 8, 2008)
- On The Precipice (December 5, 2008)
- How to Slay the Budget Dragon in the City of Hamilton (December 2, 2008)
- Ottawa's Constitutional Crisis May Be Good News For Hamilton (December 1, 2008)
- It is Time to Consider Changes to How Council Meetings are Chaired (November 27, 2008)
- It's The Economy, Stupid (November 24, 2008)
- From Business to Drive-Thrus: Everything is Connected (November 17, 2008)
- Hamilton and the N.H.L: An Impossible Dream? (November 13, 2008)
- The Role of Media in the City of Hamilton (November 10, 2008) UPDATED NOVEMBER 18 2008
- Leadership Politics at the Municipal, Provincial and Federal Levels (November 5, 2008)
- The City Hall Dilemma (November 4, 2008)
- Ward Boundaries Revisited (October 30, 2008)
- Should the Province Bail Out Hamilton? Again? (October 23, 2008)
- Post Election Analysis (October 22, 2008)
- A $48M Dollar Bonanza For Hamilton (August 29, 2008)
- Branding the City of Hamilton (August 21, 2008)
- The Area Rating Debate (part 2) (August 14, 2008)
- Harmony or Fairness: The 'Area Rating' debate (Part One) (August 8, 2008)
- The Royal Connaught: Crucial to Downtown Redevelopment (August 1, 2008)
- Hamilton Politics and the Dark Side of the Internet (July 22, 2008)
- Oily Politics in the City of Hamilton (July 7, 2008)
- The Lister Re-Born? (July 2, 2008)
- Council Moves Hamilton Towards the Future (June 25, 2008)
- Soccer Fever As a Canadian Metaphor (June 23, 2008)
- Tolling roads in Ontario (June 18, 2008)
- Who Will Lead Downtown Renewal? (June 11, 2008)
- The Scourge of Cancer Among Us (June 4, 2008)
- Hamilton's Downtown Renewal (May 30, 2008)
- A Rapid Transit System for Hamilton (May 20, 2008)
- Hamilton's Economic Summit 2 (May 13, 2008)
- Hamilton's Economic Summit (May 5, 2008)
- The Flamborough Slot Revenue Debate (April 24, 2008)
- The Caledonia Dispute Reaches Hamilton (April 21, 2008)
- The Sad Saga of Lost Opportunities: How We Lost the Maple Leaf Pork Processing Plant (April 17, 2008)
- Hovercraft Services For Hamilton? (April 9, 2008)
- VIA Rail Part 2: We've Been Fooled Again! (April 3, 2008)
- VIA Rail: Easy Come, Easy GO!!! (March 31, 2008)
- Who Should Be Hamilton's Next City Manager (March 25, 2008)
- How Elusive is Council Consensus? (March 17, 2008)
- Glen Peace: A Man of Integrity (March 5, 2008)
- Sundry Winter Reflections (February 28, 2008)
- A Day and An Eternity: On Leaving the City for a Week (February 6, 2008)
- An Integrity Commissioner and Integrity: Both Are Needed (February 6, 2008)
- The Amalgamation Demon Raises Its Uncomfortable Head (February 1, 2008)
- The Groundhog Day Debate: What to do about City Hall (January 25, 2008)
- Hamilton Mourns Conrad Furey (January 24, 2008)
- For Whom the Bell Tolls: Should the Red Hill Valley Parkway be Tolled? (January 17, 2008)
- The Lister Saga Continues (January 8, 2008)
- Out with the Old, in with the New (December 31, 2007)
- Sprawl: Myth and Reality (December 18, 2007)
- Towards Sustainable Transportation (December 13, 2007)
- Assessment Growth and Job Creation (December 7, 2007)
- On Transit, Bag Limits and the Running of City Meetings (December 1 , 2007)
- The Importance of Public Transit (November 28, 2007)
- Some Pre-Christmas Thoughts (November 26, 2007)
- Airport Employment Growth District (November 15 , 2007)
- The Red Hill Parkway (November 5 , 2007)
- The Value of Mission Statements: the Impossible Dream or Doable Objectives? (November 2 , 2007)
- The Toronto Act, More Taxes and the City of Hamilton (October 30, 2007)
- Council Looking to Increase the Size of Council (October 23, 2007)
- Ontario's Election: An analysis of the Local Reaction (October 16, 2007)
- A New Stadium for the City of Hamilton? (October 7, 2007)
- The Mid Peninsula Corridor and the City of Hamilton (September 27, 2007)
- The Carpenter's Union And the City of Hamilton (September 21, 2007)
- Provincial Election: The Local Scene (September 17, 2007)
- Provincial Election: Some Early Observations (September 12, 2007)
- Philanthropy is Changing the Face of Capitalism (September 10, 2007)
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LARRY'S CORNER- Hamilton's Former Mayor Speaks
The Virtues of Tax Increases (Or Not!)
By Larry Di Ianni
(posted July 9, 2009)
There were two headlines on the same page of the local paper this week that would have caught residents’ attention: “Tax increase likely for city homeowners” and “City will ease in rate jump for minor hockey”.
The first headline dealt with Council’s yearly ritual of giving staff a target to aim at in setting their preliminary budgets for next year. Staff was told to work with a 2% increase to their yearly budget.
The second issue had to do with the city’s policy of subsidizing hockey rates for minor hockey by 50%. This subsidy is a $5M dollar cost to the city, or nearly a 1% hit to the tax bill. Council had been encouraged to bump up the subsidy to 57% by the hockey users who leveraged their considerable numbers to force Council into paying more. The hockey users got their way, if only for one year.
What was interesting for me to read in the above headlines was the seeming inability of most of Council to connect the dots between these two issues. On the one hand some had argued for the necessity of limiting tax increases on residential property taxpayers; on the other, Council increased the cost to those taxpayers by bumping up the subsidy for hockey.
If there is one issue I hear the most about now that I am out of politics, it is the one having to do with the tax burden. Hamilton is one of the highest taxed municipalities in the country some would say. The reasons for this are well known and have to do with the downloading of social services to the municipality by the Harris government of the day. The province has been slowly uploading the burden, and has been helping Hamilton with a yearly special handout to tide us over. All this is good; but Council has been unwilling for years to slay the budget monster to bring our services in line with affordability.
Some on Council suggested freezing taxes, arguing that “It’s difficult and painful for the residents paying the taxes” and others, notably the mayor argued that a ‘tax freeze is unreasonable’. Who is right?
Well, they are both right. A tax increase guarantees programs and guarantees subsidizing transit, sports, and seniors to name just a few deserving recipients, but it also guarantees high taxes. Remember, if a tax increase is only two percent as has been suggested, it would still leave citizens paying the highest property taxes in the land, according to some. As well, especially in an economy which has eaten away at retirement savings and has forced people into layoffs, any tax increase further jeopardizes the ability of some to remain in their homes.
So what should Council do? It should have adopted a zero increase, or maybe even a slight decrease. This target would have been a signal to staff to look for savings. It would have forced Council to look at service levels to see if they are sustainable. It would have also forced Council to harmonize their budget decision-making with the budget realities being faced by the city. I know of at least one councillor who objects to decisions on spending being made outside of the budget process. It would be wise if all councillors adopted this same concern. There is a link between decisions taken, such as the increase in the hockey subsidy, and their impact on the property taxes we pay.
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