General resident surveys a tool to gather public feedback on issues in question

I recently checked out www.talktheburg.ca for the first time and was very impressed. The town has done a great job creating an informative platform for residents.

Of particular interest to me are the surveys

Initially I thought I would try and present data over the entire budget but that is too much.

Backing it down to only look at the increase as it relates to the taxes we pay is better.

The $1,515,996 increase is pretty big but not the largest we have had.

After reviewing, as far back as 2014, I see that the largest increase in spending funded by our taxes has been 2019 at a whopping $1,760,197. I do see a trend in this data.

It appears that the largest increase in spending is always the first year of a new sitting council. It happened in 2015, 2019 and now 2023.

Hopefully they follow the past and that the next three years spending is a little more softer.

Surprisingly enough on a home assessed at $100,000 will only cost the associated with current issues facing the town. It would be great if the town could publish a list of currently active surveys in this paper so residents could easily identify those that they might want to participate in.

Memories of Yesterday...

taxpayer an additional of $31.10 for 2023.

As administration likes to highlight, this is only $0.60 per week. Should be no problem.

I would like to highlight this another way.

Of the $31.10 increase, $18.66 or 60 per cent is going to cover compensation increases for all town employees, $4.67 or 15 per cent is going to cover new hirers and the balance $7.77 or 25 per cent is going to help pay for service levels, new studies and consulting fees.

Fun fact, our new council has approved a 29.4 per cent increase in salaries for our full-time staff supporting the Libro Centre.

So much for fiscal responsibility.

Concerned taxpayer,

—Rodger Hudson

—Dave

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