Who is more likely to pay for an expanding city

Guest Blogger here;

So the Chamber of Commerce believes you and I should be the ones picking up more of the city's costs thru our property taxes. The slippery slope started some years ago when they got the city to reduce their share down to 1.75 to one over the last few years and now want them to move even more of the tax burden to the local home owner. If this process continues, as I am sure business wants, personal property tax rates will be equal or even favour business.

My sense is that most people would believe businesses should be paying more for being in a growing city with more personal wealth which means more purchase power and more profits for them. The homeowner doesn't have the same ability to adjust their income to cover rising costs as business does. Many homeowners are on fixed incomes and get no relief from these tax increases. This is ultimately the problem with the type of archaic tax system (value assessment) that we currently use to gather the tax dollars the city needs to operate. The fact this business group is lavishing bouquets on this council for all the improvements in the city, shows they will go to any extent to schmooze those that make these decisions. It was only a couple of years ago this group lambasted council about cost increases.

I agree the city needs to provide the infrastructure necessary for our city to grow, but when was the last time you or I received at 5 or even 10 year tax holiday for buying a new home? The city should be looking at how it reduces the tax load on all of us instead of just transferring their out of control spending onto which ever group of people they feel will hurt them least at the polls.

Expressing your Thoughts on Voting

I encourage everyone to read the Mistress' column in this weeks Express . The topic of how we vote has been an ongoing issue. The premiss that each vote should carry the same wait is one I have to stand with.

Our debt worries are over thanks to prostitution.

Guest blogger here;

Finally the city is going to start to make a little cash off a business that has been running wild since the beginning of time. The fact Council is even looking at some kind of fee for service on escort services by way of licensing these outfits is one positive. Now I wonder which will be more valuable an escort service or a taxi drivers permit? Once we get some legalization we can start taxing this industry to the same extent as every other business and we will be in the black in no time.

Just as our summer ends full year schooling rears its ugly head

Guest Blogger here;

In today's SP there was an article on the fact that more Vancouver School districts are looking at providing a balanced year for some of their students. Does anyone think this debate could be had in this province let alone in Saskatoon? Given the lovely fall we have had this year and the extended summer temperatures is it time that we look at other reasons for staying with the system we have today. I'm not convinced that it would be to the benefit of the students. However if there are waiting lists in B.C. for this choice why not start a pilot here. Today's education system has many programs for our diverse population why not this one. I doubt our elected officials would touch this one with a ten foot poll or course unless the administration came up with the idea.

Enjoy the temperatures thanks everyone for the CO2 gases. If this is what Saskatchewan gets for "global warming" I'm in.

Sutherland small town feel- big time dollars

Guest Blogger here;

Sutherland, now remind me where is that again.. Only kidding, I remember the days that I would visit this unique portion of Saskatoon. I always liked the types of businesses that were part of the main thoroughfare. Small mom and pop shops that truly were just like walking into small town Saskatchewan. Today's central street has none of that. Most of those business have made way for the likes of large bars and things such as car dealerships. Even the road system into the area means one doesn't need to travel down central to get into the neighbourhood.

I applaud the local business group for wanting to bring back that type of atmosphere, however it will take more that just some signs to get there. Just as Broadway, 2nd Ave and now 3rd Ave have had major upgrades, it is about time the town that got swallowed up by the neighbour next door receive some needed financial support. Keeping Sutherland vibrant and a unique part of our heritage is money well spent.

SP Editorial Staff Still Think it is 2007

Guest Blogger here;

It's always disheartening to see a huge mistake in the first paragraph when the Star-Phoenix writes an editorial. Unfortunately it's not a rare occurrence. The SP's editorial on the NDP's wind power pledge is a good example. (SP Sept.20, 2011) The editorial states, "it's understandable that the provincial NDP would seek to capitalize on growing public concerns about global warming." That line might have worked 4 years ago but polls from the major public opinion consultants show that concern over global warming has cratered in the past 4 years. In the past couple years, since Climategate, not only has the public's belief that global warming is primarily caused by human activity dropped, the number of people who think that global warming is a serious concern has dropped as well.

If the Star-Phoenix was up to date on the latest information from NASA and CERN which discredit the basic assumptions of global warming, they wouldn't only be asking Link to cost out his proposals, they'd be asking why we are spending any money at all to solve a problem that doesn't exist. If the SP didn't want to join the growing ranks of sceptics they could at least ask whether the proposed action will make a difference in global CO2 emissions thus making the expenditure worthwhile. The answer, as it is to all such inconvenient questions, is NO! The truth is that our emissions are best described as completely insignificant. Our emissions are a rounding error when compared to the really big emitters like China. Saskatchewan could close down, move everyone out and leave the province to be repopulated by buffalo and it wouldn't make any difference. Link's proposal would cost a mint and accomplish nothing at all. In other words, par for the course. The SP got the first part right in wanting to know the cost. It's too bad that they didn't take the next step to look at the effectiveness of the proposal as well.

Maybe the problem is their taste in music. I'm sure that in the offices of the David Suzuki Foundation, the NDP, and the SP editorial staff an endless loop of Neil Diamond's I'M A BELIEVER, plays at top volume, drowning out rational scepticism.

Bridge over the River WHY?

So over the last couple of weeks there was a lot of discussion around not only maintaining bridges in this province but also building new ones. It looks like this may be one battle ground neither party is willing to shy away from.

The NDP came out swinging with promises of a new bridge in Prince Albert. Something that was requested of them while they were in power for so many years and did nothing about it. Interesting it is so important to them now that they are in opposition. The SaskParty rifled back with the announcement of moving up a new north perimeter bridge in Saskatoon. An city with many more seats. I would say with a much more pragmatic approach of ensuring the design work and funding are in place with all levels of Government on board before making a formal announcement.

We have seen in Saskatoon that crossing the river isn't as easy or cheap as it may seem and isn't something you plan in a couple of years. The traffic Bridge is still some years away from even having a consensus on what should be done. The existing bridge in P.A. although suffering from fatigue, crossing of the river has only been slowed and not shut down to most travelers. The SaskParty was already committing to full funding of the repairs when the situation appeared. Another blow to the NDP's want to make some political points before the fall election. Score a point for the SaskParty.

So what does this mean for people in this province .... no matter who takes power this fall we will be seeing more money going into roads and I for one am happy to see it. If we want future generations to benefit from our new found growth, we need to spend the money now and build the infrastructure of the future. Putting a bunch of money into a so called savings account for future generations will only mean they will to spend more for what we can do now.

It may take a toll on our fiscal resources but then again maybe a "TOLL" is what we need.