Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Concerning the IT budget by Ken White
COMMENTS ON THE 2009 ISLANDS TRUST BUDGET
Islands Trust has asked for public comment on its proposed budget which includes a tax increase and pay increases for Trustees.
We currently live in a world with job layoffs, massive stock market losses, companies cutting dividends, large drops in defined contribution pensions, potential reductions in defined benefit pensions, hiring freezes, weak Canadian dollar, salary reductions, property value reductions, and difficulty in selling properties. Islanders, many who live on fixed or reduced incomes, are coping with the crisis by cutting back on their budgets in many ways.
But Islands Trust still wants to raise taxes and vote themselves a pay increase.
Islands Trust weak attempt at facing the financial crisis is to say we are not going to have the outrageous tax increases of the last three years and instead just increase taxes at an amount closer to the rate of inflation (which is what they should have been doing in the good times).
It would be much better for Islands Trust to admit that the tax increases in the last three years, which were far above those of other local governments, were excessive and should be rolled back. Islands Trust needs to recognize that this is a time for cuts, not of increases of any amount.
This is a challenge to the new Islands Trust Council. To ignore the economic reality and pass any tax increase at all to islanders would be shocking, shameful, and irresponsible. If Trustees also vote to increase their own pay, they are simply adding another insult to the current pain islanders are facing.
Ken White
Passage Island
Ken has sent copies of this to the Sounder, the Driftwood, and Island Tides - ian
Islands Trust has asked for public comment on its proposed budget which includes a tax increase and pay increases for Trustees.
We currently live in a world with job layoffs, massive stock market losses, companies cutting dividends, large drops in defined contribution pensions, potential reductions in defined benefit pensions, hiring freezes, weak Canadian dollar, salary reductions, property value reductions, and difficulty in selling properties. Islanders, many who live on fixed or reduced incomes, are coping with the crisis by cutting back on their budgets in many ways.
But Islands Trust still wants to raise taxes and vote themselves a pay increase.
Islands Trust weak attempt at facing the financial crisis is to say we are not going to have the outrageous tax increases of the last three years and instead just increase taxes at an amount closer to the rate of inflation (which is what they should have been doing in the good times).
It would be much better for Islands Trust to admit that the tax increases in the last three years, which were far above those of other local governments, were excessive and should be rolled back. Islands Trust needs to recognize that this is a time for cuts, not of increases of any amount.
This is a challenge to the new Islands Trust Council. To ignore the economic reality and pass any tax increase at all to islanders would be shocking, shameful, and irresponsible. If Trustees also vote to increase their own pay, they are simply adding another insult to the current pain islanders are facing.
Ken White
Passage Island
Ken has sent copies of this to the Sounder, the Driftwood, and Island Tides - ian
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