Attendees should not be required to fund a charity of the mayor’s choice, writes reader Rande Keffer of the Property Taxpayers Alliance. Posted in Cambridge Times August 22, 2024 I am writing on behalf of the Property Taxpayers Alliance (PTA) about the article “Mayor’s State of the City Address will be at soccer complex” published Aug. 21…

Dear Editor,I am writing you on behalf of the Property Taxpayers Alliance (www.propertytaxpayer.ca). The Federal, Provincial, and Region of Waterloo governments, are all contributors to the homelessness problem. It’s surprising that this topic never comes up in the media. After years of provincial government “rent controls”, it was no surprise that investment in building new…

On Tuesday, June 18th, John Waylett, Chair & CEO of the Property Taxpayers Alliance (PTA), was interviewed by City News talk show host Mike Farwell. The talk focuses in on the recent and outrageous 3 to 5 times inflation (8% to 13%) property tax increases being proposed by the Regional and Cambridge Municipal Governments for…

I am sharing with readers a letter received from a Cambridge resident addressed to the Mayor and Council. The individual requested to remain anonymous but ok’d the reprinting of the message. It talks in part about the City’s threat of “reduced services” if taxes are cut or held at inflation. This is a scare tactic.…

On March 8th the Property Taxpayers Alliance (PTA) met with Mayor Jan Liggett, City Manager David Calder, and Chief Financial Officer Sheryl Ayres. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss changes we felt should be made to the annual “Budget and Business Plan document” to significantly improve disclosure, transparency and readability. The PTA has…

City of Cambridge Mayor Liggett and councillors approved an average 8.4% increase in the 2024 municipal salaries, wages and benefits (SWB) budget. That’s 3 times the current 2.8% rate of inflation rate! Who among Cambridge’s property tax payers received an 8.4% wage increase in 2024? Its a slap in the face of hard working residents…

The Engage Cambridge Budget survey is conducted, interpreted and presented to residents by City staff. There is no objectivity or credibility in the survey results. Further, not nearly enough responses (only 133 in 2022 and 400 in 2024) are received to make the data useable (statistically significant) as a predictor of what the Cambridge population…

More and more seniors are struggling with property tax increases eroding away their often paltry disposable incomes year after year. Cambridge has seen property tax default rates rise 30% from 2021 through 2023. In 2024, Cambridge property taxes will rise by 7.17%. That’s 2.4 times the percentage increase in the incomes of most seniors. Below…

February 11, 2024 ‘The city claims that if they cannot raise taxes by double the inflation rate, then they will have to cut services’ Cambridge property taxes will have risen on average by twice the rate of inflation over the 15 year period from 2013 through 2027, based on the city’s 2024 Budget and the…

Council will be provided a summary. Residents have until Friday to complete an online budget survey in the Engage Waterloo section of engagewr.ca. The proposed tax increase is 7.5 per cent this year, followed by an increase of 7.3 per cent in 2025 and a further 6.4 per cent in 2026. Annual increases would be $110 this year, $116…