Category: News
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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…
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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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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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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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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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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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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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Letter to the Minister of Finance and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
On November 14, 2024, the PTA was invited to attend a Ministry of Finance presentation in Kitchener. The purpose of their meeting was to receive feedback from attendees on ways to reduce cost and put more money back in the pockets of Ontario taxpayers.It was an eye-opening experience. None of the attendees, other than the…
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Waterloo Region Tax Hikes A Slap To The Face
Council spent weeks struggling to bring down the regional tax levy and failed to even meet their high target of an 8 per cent tax increase. Council have spent weeks and weeks struggling to bring down the regional tax levy. The best they can do is a 9.48 per cent tax bill increase for 2025?…
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An Anonymous Letter To the Property Taxpayers Alliance from a long time Cambridge Resident – very sad
“I became too frustrated here in Cambridge and have sold our home to move my family outside of the Waterloo region. It was the crime, addiction, encampments, overspending and property tax hikes that drove us out of Cambridge. Our numerous requests for Ward 4 Councillor Ross Earnshaw to hold a community discussion meeting for his…