New Calgary transit fees.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Kerplunk

One on the CBC site from today says they approved it.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/sto...-cityhall.html

Yeah, I see another story in the Herald.
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/...d-fca469e782f9

But that decision quickly led to warnings that council had put itself in a precarious position, because the city has purchased trucks and carts for recycling and entered into a deal with a private company to deliver a guaranteed amount of recyclables.

"There is a significant financial risk to the corporation, over $100 million," Bronconnier said. "There's a 10-year contract."

After a 90-minute meeting behind closed doors, council reversed its decision

So a wee bit of strong-arming going on, I guess.

My question - I put out a bag of garbage every 2 weeks. I have neighbours who put out 5 or 6 bags a week (I have no idea where it comes from) - why I am paying 10x as much as they are (me $4 for 2 bags/month, then $4 for 20 bags/month)?

[Ethaniel]

Everything this Budget shows and represents is that us the citizens of Calgary are going to be paying a lot more for just any service that is provided. Trash, Transit, Taxes you name it we are going to pay for it.

Just to let all the transit users know. These are your new expenses for next year that you did not have this year.

$900 in parking at park and ride lots.
$144 in trash and recycling charges for the year.
~$100 - 200 in Property Taxes
Estimating $80 for Bus Passes so $60 more than this last year.

Grand Total before something else comes into play: $1204 more than last year (based on the low end for property taxes)

[The Ditch]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

My question - I put out a bag of garbage every 2 weeks. I have neighbours who put out 5 or 6 bags a week (I have no idea where it comes from) - why I am paying 10x as much as they are (me $4 for 2 bags/month, then $4 for 20 bags/month)?

I know some places you have to buy stickers or tags and put them on your garbage, I guess that would work out well, that way you would only be paying for what you waste. I'm all for paying $8 dollars for recycling if they take it from my house.

[Kerplunk]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

My question - I put out a bag of garbage every 2 weeks. I have neighbours who put out 5 or 6 bags a week (I have no idea where it comes from) - why I am paying 10x as much as they are (me $4 for 2 bags/month, then $4 for 20 bags/month)?

Ya, I sometimes wish they would go to a tagging system or something (since we are on the topic of paying for what you use). The places around me spew out 3+ bags a week, while I go through one every 3 or 4 weeks.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Ethaniel

Everything this Budget shows and represents is that us the citizens of Calgary are going to be paying a lot more for just any service that is provided. Trash, Transit, Taxes you name it we are going to pay for it.

Four years of no tax increases and little infrastructure development combined with a population and economy boom will do that to you.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Four years of no tax increases and little infrastructure development combined with a population and economy boom will do that to you.

So will taxes and fees be dropped once Bronco is "caught up"?

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

So will taxes and fees be dropped once Bronco is "caught up"?

Define "catching up" - does it include the end of urban sprawl and high commodity prices?

[Ethaniel]

I am pretty sure Property taxes have increased every year. If not then i am mistaken.

[North East Goon]

I dont know why I am complaining about these park and ride costs, the way the markets are going I should be out of work within the next two weeks anyway! See, there is alway's a silver lining!

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by Kerplunk

Ya, I sometimes wish they would go to a tagging system or something (since we are on the topic of paying for what you use). The places around me spew out 3+ bags a week, while I go through one every 3 or 4 weeks.

How many people live in your house? How many in the places around you?

I can guarantee that my garbage output at least quadrupled if not more when the number of people living in my house went from 1 to 5....

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Define "catching up" - does it include the end of urban sprawl and high commodity prices?

Well, if the justification for the current fees/increases are because there were "four years of no increases", then wouldn't that imply the reason for these fees was to make up for lost time?

Similar to the "Al Duerr didn't keep up with infrastructure, so now we need to build what he didn't" - at some point wouldn't the mean that at some point the addition funds needed are no longer required?

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Well, if the justification for the current fees/increases are because there were "four years of no increases", then wouldn't that imply the reason for these fees was to make up for lost time?

Similar to the "Al Duerr didn't keep up with infrastructure, so now we need to build what he didn't" - at some point wouldn't the mean that at some point the addition funds needed are no longer required?

Well obviously it's a simplified look at the problem, but if we finally "catch up" to what is needed for a growing City like ours, then there is far more reason to only increase taxes at the rate of inflation, at the maximum.

[Ethaniel]

Nothing like not having growth and having to pay for Growth all at the same time.

[Kerplunk]

Originally Posted by calculoso

How many people live in your house? How many in the places around you?

I can guarantee that my garbage output at least quadrupled if not more when the number of people living in my house went from 1 to 5....

Does it really matter? The point is that the fee is the same no matter how much is produced.

[Superflyer]

I cannot believe the way that people are up in arms over this, they are acting like they charge you the $3 and then slap your kids and parents.
It is $3, sure some people will have to quit their jobs and lose their houses over this but come on......
People are saying that they will park on the surrounding streets so as not to pay the money, but right now people are saying that the lots are full at 6:00 anyways, do you think that the people that are getting there at 8:00 are going Darn, that is to bad, I'll just turn around and park at home now or park downtown and pay $25, no they are parking on the streets if they can. So now there is going to be a fight for street parking. Guess what, the streets are going to fill up by 7:00.
And for the stories of single mom's whose husband died and left them with 7 kids and car payments and a large morgage, guess what, if this increase is going to make you not be able to go to work, maybe find someplace else to live\work. then people say that they cannot take the bus to the train station because they have to get up 2 hours earlier because the bus takes that long to get to the station, where the hell are you taking it from? My bus ride takes me 20-25 minutes a trip. That is from my stop in Beddington to downtown.

With this money the city will put it to projects that it needs, sure some might go to getting some new weights for the gym but some will also go to getting new LRT cars and busses to relieve the pressure.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by Ethaniel

I am pretty sure Property taxes have increased every year. If not then i am mistaken.

There were a few years under Duerr where they didn't.

Of course, user fees still did, utilities still did, and revenues still grew.

Since those days, just 6 or 7 years ago, funds from the province and feds are up something like 600%, funds from citizens (our other pocket) are up something like 100%. But hey, we still have a lot of catching up to do.

[Ethaniel]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

I cannot believe the way that people are up in arms over this, they are acting like they charge you the $3 and then slap your kids and parents.
It is $3, sure some people will have to quit their jobs and lose their houses over this but come on......
People are saying that they will park on the surrounding streets so as not to pay the money, but right now people are saying that the lots are full at 6:00 anyways, do you think that the people that are getting there at 8:00 are going Darn, that is to bad, I'll just turn around and park at home now or park downtown and pay $25, no they are parking on the streets if they can. So now there is going to be a fight for street parking. Guess what, the streets are going to fill up by 7:00.
And for the stories of single mom's whose husband died and left them with 7 kids and car payments and a large mortgage, guess what, if this increase is going to make you not be able to go to work, maybe find someplace else to live\work. then people say that they cannot take the bus to the train station because they have to get up 2 hours earlier because the bus takes that long to get to the station, where the hell are you taking it from? My bus ride takes me 20-25 minutes a trip. That is from my stop in Beddington to downtown.

With this money the city will put it to projects that it needs, sure some might go to getting some new weights for the gym but some will also go to getting new LRT cars and buses to relieve the pressure.

How do you know exactly where this money is going? do you work for the government and thus benefiting from the gym
As it stands right now they are adding 9 transit officers to help protect us as passengers and our vehicles. Like 9 Officers is going to protect/do anything in a city of this size. We are already paying said amount of money via the Budget and Taxes to extend the CTrain cars to being 4 in length. As it stands right now the City has not told us what this money is directly for.

7 people I work with have had their vehicles broken into in the past 3 weeks.

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

I cannot believe the way that people are up in arms over this, they are acting like they charge you the $3 and then slap your kids and parents.
It is $3, sure some people will have to quit their jobs and lose their houses over this but come on......
People are saying that they will park on the surrounding streets so as not to pay the money, but right now people are saying that the lots are full at 6:00 anyways, do you think that the people that are getting there at 8:00 are going Darn, that is to bad, I'll just turn around and park at home now or park downtown and pay $25, no they are parking on the streets if they can. So now there is going to be a fight for street parking. Guess what, the streets are going to fill up by 7:00.
And for the stories of single mom's whose husband died and left them with 7 kids and car payments and a large morgage, guess what, if this increase is going to make you not be able to go to work, maybe find someplace else to live\work. then people say that they cannot take the bus to the train station because they have to get up 2 hours earlier because the bus takes that long to get to the station, where the hell are you taking it from? My bus ride takes me 20-25 minutes a trip. That is from my stop in Beddington to downtown.

With this money the city will put it to projects that it needs, sure some might go to getting some new weights for the gym but some will also go to getting new LRT cars and busses to relieve the pressure.

You can't look at it like $3/day... you have to see it big picture. $3/day is $15/week. Lets say 50 weeks/yr. That's $750/yr. more than before, and in the face of economic recession... that can be absolutely critical to a working family. Not to mention yet another increase in Bus Passes.

This is irresponsible policy at work here. Lets design a Downtown core that relies heavily on LRT, and then charge people through the nose to use it, have them pay through the nose for downtown parking and clog the hell out of the roads there, or force them to use the grossly inefficient bus system. But don't you dare touch the bureaucracy, public employee salaries, the pedestrian bridges or the $1.6m fitness centre.

On the bright side, if three co-workers carpooled, they'd spend less to park downtown ($16-25/day), than to each spend $3/day on LRT parking, and $4-5/day (depending on bus pass) on LRT passes.

This City Council is so incompetent it should be criminal. I would bet money an independent auditor could shave tens of millions off the city budget with little to no change noticed by the average citizen, except perhaps more money in their pockets.

[Madman]

Originally Posted by Ethaniel

7 people I work with have had their vehicles broken into in the past 3 weeks.

There should be a user fee for people that have their car broken in to. They have to then drive to the police station to report the break in or worse yet, have a police officer come out to their broken in car to inspect it causing undo strain on the CPS. Why should I have to pay more taxes because YOUR car was broken into and mine wasn't?

[Robbob]

Regarding security for the lots I don't know why the city doesn't contract out to private security companies. For around $15 an hour you get a warm body to stroll the lot and call police if anything happens. All you need is a visable deterrent. At that price you would only need 120 vehicles to cover the cost, which most lots have before 7:00.

There is no reason to pay a transit cop to look in windshields and call police if there is an incident. You can probably get 4 private security guards for every one transit.

Another option altough the the satelite communites wouldn't like it as much is charge the $3 for parking at the first few stations. This way you get the commuters from outside the city that don't pay property tax and in a sense the people that use the c-train the most (distance wise) pay a premium.

Now people could very well drive 10-15 minutes farther once they get into the city to beat the $3 charge but convience of parking at Shawnessy might be worth it if they don't have to drive in rush hour for 10-20 minutes and then try to get on a packed train.