I feel it is imperative to vote in the candidates that have the foresight to see the city is in great financial distress.
Balancing the budget, lowering taxes and creating a best-case scenario for the $1 million we are losing every year to run Servus Credit Union Place should be priorities. Council at this time needs to do away with the wants of certain groups and concentrate on the needs of the community as a whole so that the basic infrastructure and majority of the population will be the first priority.
The sheer volume of real estate on MLS, ComFree and homes for sale by owner in this city tells me that we are in a recession. People are at the breaking point with the high property taxes and other municipal fees they’re forced to pay. Their willingness to pay these higher-than-average costs to live in this city will be short-lived due to this causing them personal financial distress. The average person pays about eight per cent of their net income for property taxes, not including the increase that some of the panel wants us to think is necessary to run our city.
If the current financial situation does not change and with the City of Edmonton now close enough to be at our backdoor, there is bound to be a statement that sounds something like this, “Will the last person leaving St. Albert please turn the lights off at city hall.”
My vote will be for true financial numbers because numbers don’t lie, people do. Thanks Norm Harley for bring those numbers forward and showing us there can be a property tax reduction; to Cam MacKay for forward thinking on the airport tax revenue; to Robyn Morrison for creative thinking, the realistic ideas of capturing revenue for Servus Place, releasing the tax burden on the property owners and the innovative marketing ideas to bring new people, venues and tax dollars to St. Albert; to James Van Damme for doing his homework and seeing the 360-degree views on how cities the same size can be sustainable and make a profit while also bringing technology into play, which will move us forward into the future, creating more transparency and involvement with the taxpayers.
I know three years is only a short time but if council starts today with fiscal restraint and makes the budget the first priority, we might have a chance to continue as a viable city in the future.
Rob de Laurier, St. Albert
