Category: News
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Property Tax Arrears Rising!!!
Please consider voting this October for municipal councillor and mayoral candidates who support bringing average annual property tax increases down in line with inflation (~ property taxpayer income growth). Vote out those who have supported property tax increases 2 to 3 times the inflation rate year after year. Cities must cut expenses and live within…
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570 News interviews John Waylett about PTA letter to Waterloo Regional Chair Karen Redman
The PTA asks Karen Redman to address the region’s unsustainable year-after-year above-inflation property tax increases. They are contributing to homelessness. Listen at the 46:10 minute mark. https://www.seekyoursounds.com/podcasts/the-mike-farwell-show/the-mike-farwell-show-june-1st-2026m/podcasts/the-mike-farwell-show/the-mike-farwell-show-june-1st-2026
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Group calling out local governments for overspending, growing taxes
By Josh Piercey, CityNews Kitchener, Posted Aug 22, 2025 03:01:00 PM Last Updated Aug 22, 2025 04:50:09 PM. The Property Taxpayers Alliance is seeking greater accountability from local governments, which, in their opinion, are overspending and lacking transparency. “Our municipalities don’t have a revenue problem, they have a spending problem,” said John Waylett, founder of the Property Taxpayers…
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Niagara Falls city taxes poised to climb 7.6%
The average household will now be required to pay about $120 more in Niagara Falls taxes in 2025 when city council approves the 7.6 per cent increase to the draft operating budget. Overall property tax bills will be compounded by the Niagara Region’s 2025 budgeted tax increase of 9.6 per cent. Niagara Falls’ chief administrative…
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Ontario’s Two Tier Regional Governments – Time To Take Action
The Niagara region has 13 Chief Administrative Officers (CAO) versus Hamilton which has one city manager. In 2023 Niagara taxpayers paid over $2.9 million dollars on municipal CAO salaries versus the City of Hamilton that paid $321,598. Niagara taxpayers paid an astounding $2.6 million dollars more on this one municipal position alone. Now let’s look at…
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Annual report card on city council actions
Local group in St. Catharines completes an annual report card on city council actions and decisions. Not very impressive. See below. Al McKay
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Is Your Municipality Managing Your Hard-Earned Tax Dollars Held In Reserve Funds Efficently? Not likely!
Investment management is a vital professional skill missing from our public sector and municipalities in particular. Similar to the accounting profession, professional investors must complete a globally recognized professional qualification program. The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation should be a minimum requirement given the large size of Municipal balance sheets. This is not the case…
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CambridgeToday received the following letter taking issue with the way numbers are used to determine the Cambridge tax increase.
The Ontario Property Taxpayers Alliance (www.propertytaxpayer) is writing about a City of Cambridge website page called Test Your City Budget Knowledge. It is misleading and should be taken down. It says the approved 2025 operating budget tax levy was 1.28 per cent and that this is below the current two per cent rate of inflation. They’re only telling…
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Mayors of Niagara’s 3 Largest Cities Endorse Ford
See Article Here This article speaks to Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati, St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe and Welland Mayor Frank Campion supporting the Progressive Conservative leadership race for premier. Some have suggested these mayors are violating ethics rules. During the provincial steering committee meeting in January 2024 the mayors of St. Catharines and Niagara Falls called for governance reform here…
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The Race to the Bottom, Decisions, and Questions That Need Answers
by Dr. David Jones, Tiny Township We make decisions daily that affect ourselves and our families. Some of our political leaders make decisions that can affect an entire municipality. As the number of people affected rises, so does the responsibility to make the best decision, armed with the best information. Our level of consumption is…