Tag Archives: City Hall

Calgary mayor wants more funds for snow removal

Posted on by
Reply
CALGARY – After his 11-kilometre morning commute to City Hall took an hour longer than normal today, Mayor Dave Bronconnier said Calgary needs a bigger fleet to handle wintry roads.
The mayor said he’ll push for a “few extra million dollars” for snow removal when council adjusts the 2010 budget next month. But in a year where council already has to cut deeply to balance its finances, he wouldn’t say whether that money should come from additional service cuts elsewhere, or additioanl property taxes.
Despite perennial surveys saying Calgarians want better snow-removal service but don’t want to pay more for it, Bronconnier said the “cost is well worth the additional benefit.
“Even if it’s (to save) 10, 15, 20 minutes of your commute time, I look at that at money well invested,” he told reporters after giving the new U.S. Ambassador to Canada a white-hat welcome.
Commuting delays mean losses for business, and parents often have to pay penalties for arriving late at daycares, the mayor said.
He credited the city’s more than 70 salting and grading trucks for hitting the road by 4 a.m. “The repoonse is adequate for the material and personnel we have,” he said.
Next month, aldermen will debate a 2010 budget that features a property-tax increase of 6.1 per cent, although officials are trying to lower that to 5.3 per cent, the level of last year’s hike.
Neither figure includes money for better winter-road clearing.
Bronconnier again floated the idea of sub-contracting private trucks, a potentially costly initiative in a city that doesn’t see as much snow as others in Canada.
Right now, some drivers can barely even get out of their own communities, he said. It took the mayor about 40 minutes just to clear out of his neighbourhood.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Mayor+more+funds+snow+removal/2097346/story.html

CALGARY – After his 11-kilometre morning commute to City Hall took an hour longer than normal today, Mayor Dave Bronconnier said Calgary needs a bigger fleet to handle wintry roads.

The mayor said he’ll push for a “few extra million dollars” for snow removal when council adjusts the 2010 budget next month. But in a year where council already has to cut deeply to balance its finances, he wouldn’t say whether that money should come from additional service cuts elsewhere, or additioanl property taxes.

Despite perennial surveys saying Calgarians want better snow-removal service but don’t want to pay more for it, Bronconnier said the “cost is well worth the additional benefit.

“Even if it’s (to save) 10, 15, 20 minutes of your commute time, I look at that at money well invested,” he told reporters after giving the new U.S. Ambassador to Canada a white-hat welcome.

Commuting delays mean losses for business, and parents often have to pay penalties for arriving late at daycares, the mayor said.

He credited the city’s more than 70 salting and grading trucks for hitting the road by 4 a.m. “The repoonse is adequate for the material and personnel we have,” he said.

Next month, aldermen will debate a 2010 budget that features a property-tax increase of 6.1 per cent, although officials are trying to lower that to 5.3 per cent, the level of last year’s hike.

Neither figure includes money for better winter-road clearing.

Bronconnier again floated the idea of sub-contracting private trucks, a potentially costly initiative in a city that doesn’t see as much snow as others in Canada.

Right now, some drivers can barely even get out of their own communities, he said. It took the mayor about 40 minutes just to clear out of his neighbourhood.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Mayor+more+funds+snow+removal/2097346/story.html

Furnasman Winnipeg  CBC

One Hour Furnace Winnipeg

Furnace Prices Winnipeg

Property Tax Assessments to be Mailed Soon

Manitoba Auto Dealers

www.crossfireconsulting.net

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Websites
  • Best of Money Carnival #128 Welcome to the 128th edition of the Best of Money Carnival. I've wanted to host this carnival for the first time and I finally got my opportunity! Please, please, please read these articles, they all have...
  • How to Prepare Coin Paper Money for Sale Any time you collect things, there is a time in which you will have to sell them. This is never easy as you might have an attachment to the piece itself or you may just...
  • Debating a Paper Money Purchase If you are jumping into the world of coin collecting or are thinking about expanding beyond your coin collection, you are going to look to paper money collecting. Paper money collecting can be just as...
  • Would You Take a Pay Cut for Happiness? The following is a post by staff writer Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff. Her blog covers living expenses, saving for your future, and the fun stuff along the way. I have been job...
  • Marriage and Money: Financial Game Plan This series was inspired by the recent marriage in our family. I organized some information with my brother in law and new sister in law in mind. If you find these tips to be useful,...

Cut spending, Sam

Posted on by
Reply
The City of Winnipeg got a staggering $61 million more from the province last year than it expected, according to the Department of Intergovernmental Affairs 2008-09 annual report tabled in the legislature Thursday.
Yet we still hear Mayor Sam Katz and city council whine that they’re not getting their share of provincial and federal tax dollars.
At some point, these guys have to give their heads a shake.
The provincial government had budgeted $156 million for the city in its 2008 budget, including conditional and unconditional grants, and specific funding for areas such as road repair.
But that figure soared to $217 million by the end of the year after the province topped up funding in a number of areas. It makes a mockery of the complainers at city hall who claim they’re starved for cash and may have to raise property taxes as a result.
The province had budgeted $92 million for the city under its Building Manitoba Fund, where the province shares a percentage of income, corporate and gas taxes with the city.
That transfer grew to $97 million by the end of the year due to higher than anticipated income and fuel taxes.
The city also got a major boost in unconditional grants it receives from the province. That grant, which the city can spend however it wants, was originally set at $20 million for the year. But it was topped up to $35 million “to assist the city in meeting its budgetary pressures.” I believe that’s called a bailout.
The city got just over $1 million more in gaming money from the province than expected, for a total of $15.7 million.
They also got $15 million more than expected in capital assistance from the province, primarily to help pay for the southwest rapid transit corridor.
City hall got a windfall from Broadway for road repair. The original budget for road and bridge repair was $20 million. But the city ended up getting a $45-million jackpot instead, primarily because the province agreed to accelerate $25 million in 2009 roads funding.
There were a few other categories that didn’t change much from the original budget. But all told, the city got a $217-million windfall from the province, up 39% from what was originally budgeted.
Despite that, we still hear the usual complaints from the mayor and city council that they’re not getting their fair share of the taxation pie. And they threaten that if they don’t get more, they may have to raise property taxes.
How much more do they need?
Perhaps if they got their own spending under control they could solve whatever money problems they claim to have.
The city still hasn’t cut its bloated bureaucracy, despite claims to the contrary by Katz. In 2003, there was an average of 8,385 people on the payroll at city hall. Five years later, that number was up slightly to 8,402, according to the city’s own annual financial reports.
Worse, labour costs at the city soared 21% between 2003 and 2008, up $100 million.
The truth is, the city has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
They should solve that first.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/columnists/tom_brodbeck/2009/10/04/11288126-sun.html

The City of Winnipeg got a staggering $61 million more from the province last year than it expected, according to the Department of Intergovernmental Affairs 2008-09 annual report tabled in the legislature Thursday.

Yet we still hear Mayor Sam Katz and city council whine that they’re not getting their share of provincial and federal tax dollars.

At some point, these guys have to give their heads a shake.

The provincial government had budgeted $156 million for the city in its 2008 budget, including conditional and unconditional grants, and specific funding for areas such as road repair.

But that figure soared to $217 million by the end of the year after the province topped up funding in a number of areas. It makes a mockery of the complainers at city hall who claim they’re starved for cash and may have to raise property taxes as a result.

The province had budgeted $92 million for the city under its Building Manitoba Fund, where the province shares a percentage of income, corporate and gas taxes with the city.

That transfer grew to $97 million by the end of the year due to higher than anticipated income and fuel taxes.

The city also got a major boost in unconditional grants it receives from the province. That grant, which the city can spend however it wants, was originally set at $20 million for the year. But it was topped up to $35 million “to assist the city in meeting its budgetary pressures.” I believe that’s called a bailout.

The city got just over $1 million more in gaming money from the province than expected, for a total of $15.7 million.

They also got $15 million more than expected in capital assistance from the province, primarily to help pay for the southwest rapid transit corridor.

City hall got a windfall from Broadway for road repair. The original budget for road and bridge repair was $20 million. But the city ended up getting a $45-million jackpot instead, primarily because the province agreed to accelerate $25 million in 2009 roads funding.

There were a few other categories that didn’t change much from the original budget. But all told, the city got a $217-million windfall from the province, up 39% from what was originally budgeted.

Despite that, we still hear the usual complaints from the mayor and city council that they’re not getting their fair share of the taxation pie. And they threaten that if they don’t get more, they may have to raise property taxes.

How much more do they need?

Perhaps if they got their own spending under control they could solve whatever money problems they claim to have.

The city still hasn’t cut its bloated bureaucracy, despite claims to the contrary by Katz. In 2003, there was an average of 8,385 people on the payroll at city hall. Five years later, that number was up slightly to 8,402, according to the city’s own annual financial reports.

Worse, labour costs at the city soared 21% between 2003 and 2008, up $100 million.

The truth is, the city has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

They should solve that first.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/columnists/tom_brodbeck/2009/10/04/11288126-sun.html

Surrey Coquitlam Vancouver Victoria Auto Financing Interest Rates

www.crossfireconsulting.net

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Websites

  • Year End Income Tax Guide (Part 2) This is the second part of Mr. ToughMoney Love's year end income tax guide that I have put together to help me (and I hope you) do some last minute strategizing and planning for the 2008 and...
  • Where are Estate Taxes Going? The question I hear the most when I am teaching classes are, where do you think the Estate Taxes are going?  I always respond, they aren't disappearing. Period.   The current administration (along with the last one)...
  • Tax Loss Harvesting Advice... From My Accountant According to my friends, I'm one of those people who has "a guy" for everything. I have a guy who does my car maintenance, a guy who helps me maintain this blog, and occasionally a...
  • Tax Benefits Of Passive Income Since this is tax season and this site is dedicated to earning passive income, I thought I should post something about the taxation of passive income. From the IRS's point of view passive income is...
  • The House Passes Estate Tax Bill to Freeze Current Exemptions and Rates In a vote closer than I expected the house passed, an Estate Tax Bill!  For all intents and purposes the bill freezes the Federal Estate Tax (Remember State Estate tax is different) so that every U.S....

Poll Tax Hikes

Posted on by
Reply

Several officials raised the possibility of a half-cent sales tax hike. If approved by voters, such an increase would bring the county’s sales tax rate to 8.75%, tying it with Alameda and Contra Costa counties’ as the highest in California.

Among those who said they may support the idea were Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a pair of county supervisors, Yvonne B. Burke and Zev Yaroslavsky.

“I’m a cynic by design,” said Yaroslavsky, current chairman of the five-member Board of Supervisors. “I’m skeptical you can get 66 2/3 ” — the percentage of favorable votes need to approve an increase — “during a recession. . . . Nevertheless, it’s a tool that has to be considered.”

A poll commissioned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority showed that two-thirds of voters would support a new transportation tax. But the poll’s first question made no mention of a subway but did mention widening eight freeways in Los Angeles County.

Villaraigosa gave a passionate speech about the subway, saying it would have among the most riders of any line in the country. He also said the project would cost $7 billion but offered no firm detail on how to pay for it. MTA estimates have put the cost of the line at $5 billion.

In his speech and in an earlier interview, Villaraigosa said a sales tax hike was an option. But around City Hall, the thinking is that he won’t make a decision on pursuing a transit tax until after Feb. 5, when voters will be asked to authorize a telephone tax that the city needs to balance its budget.

Property Tax Assessments to be Mailed Soon

Vancouver Auto Financing

Vancouver Auto Dealers


www.crossfireconsulting.ne

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Websites