budget

The final rounds of discussion/debate of next year's budget are taking place and according to the Journal's Keith Gerein the final vote split along ideological lines. The four "no" votes came from the the four most conservative councillors; Sarah Hamilton, Jennifer Rice, Karen Principe and Tim Cartmell. The councillors on the winning side of the debate expressed irritation at the dissenters especially Jennifer Rice and mayoral candidate Tim Cartmell. who noted that even though next year’s hike was lowered to 6.1 per cent, this council's cumulative record still amounts to a nearly 22 per cent increase over four years.

It probably is not far fetched to think that the budget debate may be a preview of some councillor's platforms for next year's election.

Budgets for travel and conferences were being debated at City Hall last week and though the dollar amounts were small hopefully it sets a precedent for closer scrutiny on all aspects of the budget. Councillor Erin Rutherford wanted to cut more and said she thinks about where the City finds itself fiscally, and the hard decisions that Edmontonians are having to make every day. She also said “It is small amounts, but it is symbolic of the greater picture that we’re faced with.”

Council did agree to other cuts Rutherford recommended.

Hopefully, Edmontonians will see the results of this fine tooth approach on next year's budget.

One of the things that politicians and bureaucrats at all levels of government need to be constantly reminded of when planning how to best serve the needs of their jurisdictions ...taxpayers are the one and only source of money you have to work with. Reading about Edmonton's "fiscal gap" in the article below indicates that past and present mayors, councillors and bureaucrats have found it too easy to spend other peoples' (taxpayers) money and have overspent on questionable projects. With the lack of funds and inability to pay for the expenditures, they have in effect now saddled the citizens of Edmonton with the obligation to pay the debt through their taxes, which will probably be increased.

Other ways of servicing the current debt are being considered, and hopefully it doesn't override the greatest need, which is for the mayor, councillors and bureaucrats to be fiscally responsible and only budget what can be paid for without burdening taxpayers with increased taxes. The next civic election is about a year away and hopefully there will be a slate of candidates whose platform includes being fiscally responsible.