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Originally Posted by calculoso
Haven't we just been told, with the whole bridge thing, that construction costs come out of a Capital Budget that is not affected by this tax increase?
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I'll mention that I'm a municipal politician in one of the smaller cities in Alberta, therefore I don't live in Calgary so don't see the news reports that you folks do. I don't know what makes up this budget increase. Construction costs can cause a budgetary increase, but may not in this case. Besides, I was mentioning that construction costs are down a lot from a year ago so I wasn't citing that as a reason for the increase anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fotze
That's what I'd like to hear at least once. Cut services or programs. Why is that such a re herring to at least suggest. I bet there are a bunch of things that most people would rather not have as a service compared to a $450 increase in taxes, or at least shrink that increase a bit.
I can't seem to find a budget document with any more detail than a pie chart showing a percentage of what is spent where. Would be nice to see a big ledger showing all the city departments and what was spent in 2007?
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It's easy to say cut services, but what? Every person has his/her own priorities. What you would cut, someone else would whine about if it was cut. YOur city operation is probably already pretty lean, if they've been doing their job. You keep electing these folks, so if there were so poor why do you do that? I'm not saying you specifically because you may not have voted for these people.
Creating a city budget is a huge job. There will always be someone who is unhappy. It's all about doing the most for the smallest dollar. I know a couple of your councillors and don't know them well, but I'd bet that they have these discussions and have gone through that budget (or will if they haven't already done so) pretty thoroughly and are doing their best to meet the objectives of over a million people. It's very difficult. It's easy to complain. Talk to one of your aldermen and let him or her know your point of view. Go to a council meeting and ask to make a presentation. Do something other than just state your opinion on some forum. Go to city hall and ask for the budget detail you want, then you can make a stronger case for your point of view. I'm not trying to diminish your point of view, only to say that if they cut services and programs, someone else will be affected and that there are ways to let them know of your views.