You would think that a council would try something different like reducing taxes. It is possable, but it takes the imagination of a person who pays the tax bill on a fixed income. I’m sure that I’m not the only one that isn’t on a fixed income and scared as hell that WE are going down a slippery road as a country and fast approuching the “T” in the road where we are going to have to decide to buy our country back from the multinationals or wind up in the ditch as so many other third world countries are mired down into.

Here we go again. On council for 2 months and this will be 2nd increase. Like I’ve said before when they are running for election they have all the answers that will make things better for us. Getting really tired of council after council offering nothing but increases.

Reduced taxes = reduced services. I personally would be fine with that, but all the special interests would scream bloody murder.

With reduced taxes you bo not have to reduce services. These councilors ared suposidly well educated people and here we have more of the same as the council we just booted out– we may as well not have an election at all. What we need is councilors that can do simple subtraction or reduce the waste and lead by example. Quit spending our tax dollars on expensive police stations thaqt we don’t need and don’tget into the real estate buisness. Remember the most important thing is that it isn’t YOUR MONEY –IT”S THE TAX PAYERS, that’s the 1%.

I agree with Surefire. In addition to the Police station, we can add the Community Energy System, the new office at 18th and Ospika, the possiblity of a new PAC. $15 Million for the Winter Games, Cost to purchase and demolish the PG Hotel, and then gift it to the Province for a **silly** Wood Innovation Building. Who the hell needs a 10 storey wooden building?
Are we insane. The money for that building should have been spent to improve services at the Regional Hospital, or for some useful purpose at the University. It shouldnt be spent on building a holding pen for high paid Government workers.

I cannot beleive that the first order of Council is to have a **core reveiw** to see where they can reduce costs, and then to immediately spend $350,000.00 on a consultant.

In the meantime all the high paid Managers will sit around and feed the consultant BS.

Mangagers should at the very minimum be required to reduce their budgets by 5% this year, with a view for a further 5% next year. They can do the core reveiw for their departments. Thats what we pay them for.

Lets quit this consultant BS. The strategy advanced by the City Manager is nothing more than a stalling tactic to try and control the agenda and Council. If he cant get this job done without a consultant, then his job should be on the line.

Its time to clean house at City Hall. Mean and lean is a term they dont understand, and a concept that seems to be beyond their ability to comprehend.

Where are the new councillors?? Where is Skakun, Stolz, Frizzell. Lets get this bloody job done, and show the rest of the Country that we are more than a bunch of country bumkins.

It doesnt take a lot of time and effort to raise taxes. Lets not kid ourselves, when they refer to **staff wanting this, or staff wanting that** what they really mean is that the City Manager wants this or that. He decides what the staff wants.

So lets quit the BS. Have Mr Bates do his job, or give him a sandwich wrapped in a road map.

Sure glad I sold my house and moved out of pg. That is exactly the reason why. Not to mention paying for a garbage service I did not need and 5the 25 oercent more for the next 5 years and on and on it goes. Oh well tax out here is cheaper and I can take my own garbage to the dump. Don’t need any one to pick it up for me especially these over paid useless city workers, I aint paying to keep them in a job any more. Over paid parasites.

Several years ago I read a book on managing money, one thing that stuck with me from the author was this statement “if your bathtub is overflowing, turn off the tap.” It seems all this Mayor and council can do is raise taxes! Why spend $350,000 (which we don’t have) on a fishing trip, for that is what the core review really is. Maybe a big fish will be hooked, then maybe not. If council was really serious about cost cutting, the first thing they will do is issue an overtime ban, right across the board and if any overtime is to be called it must be justified and explained by the department heads to the Mayor on a weekly basis with the City Manager present. That is just one suggestion. Look at the big ticket items and then work down from there. This could all be done in house.

Staff need to have their head shaken. Why would anyone in their right mind not ask for an increase? It would make their job a lot easier, and to me that is not the goal!

For God`s sake, tell staff to justify why there will be any increase over last years budget and detail it LINE BY LINE.

Then look at new projects and costs associated with them…kind of like a mini core review….it should happen every year at this time, common you guys get with the program.

The city manager is obviously in over his head and incompetent for the job. If he can’t come up with a 10% reduction on his own the mayor and council should find someone that can. Increasing taxes year after year is not sustainable… even in the resource sector people aren’t seeing 3% increases in their pay.

Everything else goes up approximately 3% a year. I believe they call it ‘inflation’.

I wonder where the City’s costs are at for Boundary Road?

“It doesnt take a lot of time and effort to raise taxes. Lets not kid ourselves, when they refer to **staff wanting this, or staff wanting that** what they really mean is that the City Manager wants this or that. He decides what the staff wants.”

That’s my impression too! But according to previous threads here on this site it is the MAYOR who decides what the City Manager GETS to satisfy the wants of the staff!

Still being unconvinced about this, I shall wait and see if indeed this Mayor will simply tell the Manager what the new lower limits are and to start managing accordingly to achieve the reductions in cost which the Mayor decided to have!

The Mayor does not have to ask for permission, or does she?

That’s CEOs how do it in private (for profit) business – if the business is to stay profitable and survive.

As tax payers, we get the chance every 2 years to vote out the Mayor and/or Councillor’s, but we have no say in the Managers at City Hall. The crap that has gone on there makes me disgusted. The City Manager and his underlings seem untouchable. I believe that can create arrogance and a “out of touch” attitude to the people they should be accountable to.
The latest of our “city dirty tricks” is the request for the costs to go after Brian Skakun, but City Hall will not release that information. You can bet that cost us a bundle.

Does anyone know where to find the total costs of all the lawsuits for the city?

Someone mentioned to me a few years ago that there is a minimum of 15 court cases a year? Does anyone know? Would be interesting to find out how many there have been and the total of those costs as to not breach anyones privacy……..I wish upon a star this info is available and poof…..it’s not.