At a time when Huntsville residents are faced with higher costs of living and uncertain economic times, getting slapped with a 6.4 per cent tax rate increase is nothing to celebrate.

Finance chair Chris Zanetti justified the increase by saying, “We feel that is not a lot to pay for the increased services we are providing you.”

If you are wondering what “increased services” you’re getting for your money, you are not alone.

User fees are going up, and reinvestment into capital road projects, the biggest ticket item for municipalities, is worrisome.

 The municipality has budgeted an estimated $3.2 million for capital road work, but about $1.1 million of that money came from a provincial grant and another $560,000 from the gas tax reserve fund. The additional funds should have been applied to a reserve for extraordinary projects, not core services like road resurfacing.

It is worrisome to see that this budget is allotting just as much to the capital side of public works as it is to its operating costs. The rationale for this is that there were some unbudgeted expenditures in that department last year that had to be accounted for.

Zanetti also said the amount budgeted for the operations side of the equation last year did not jive with the reality of actual expenditures, particularly as they related to salaries and utility costs.

The community services department will be getting $193,000 for their capital reserves. Most of those funds will be spread thin on items like a centennial centre “refurbishment plan,” a floor scrubber and dressing room doors, community hall fire retrofits, and updating structures along the Port Sydney waterfront. Those are all great items but can hardly be construed as new or improved services.

Based on what we’ve been hearing from this council repeatedly, previous commitments made by former government and the historical modus operandi have led us to a substantial increase without a lot of meat and potatoes in this budget.

The fact that this budget counts on revenue for a building it hasn’t sold (former MTO building) and a substantial surplus from a project it hasn’t completed (River Mill Park) in order to make ends meet and manage to put some funds into reserves is of concern.

Certainly if clerical errors and previous mismanagement are truly to blame for the state of affairs council and staff are said to be currently working hard to address, then passing a motion presented by councillor John Davis on Monday would have made perfect sense.

That motion requested that council wait for the audited 2007 actual expenditures before passing its budget. Those numbers are expected out in two weeks. Council did not pass last year’s budget until April 30.

This year, given the concerns expressed about the previous way of doing things, and the fact that the municipality is depending on a part-time consultant to help it put its house in order, holding off for two weeks to ensure its 2007 expenditures add up would have been prudent.

                                                                                                                                                T.d.V.