Q. How did you arrive at this list of priorities? A. The list of priorities was derived from an open review of over 200 existing, pending and new project priorities which account for approximately 10-20% of the city’s resources and capacity. The two review meetings took place in the fall. Meeting 1: October 19, 2007 […]
Category: Taxes
Sidewalk Plows Annual Budget Fodder
The following article appeared in the January 11 edition of the Guelph Tribune: It might be a tempting budget target, but eliminating mechanized plowing of sidewalks wouldn’t save the city a great deal of money, says city operations director Derek McCaughan. “It’s not as huge a saving as people might think,” said McCaughan, who gave […]
DC’s and the South End Recreational Centre
There is a growing and very vocal number of residents living in the south end of Guelph advocating for a new recreational centre to be built as soon as possible. Currently, the City of Guelph has in it’s capital budget, construction of a new south end rec centre sometime in 2014. The projected cost of the rec centre […]
You take a library from the bottom
The following article appeared in the January 5 edition of the Guelph Mercury: It’s like an elaborate game, perhaps of dominoes, or maybe Jenga — how do you take a block from the bottom and put it on top without the entire structure collapsing? A couple of rounds of meetings have already happened, and there’s […]
2008 Budget priorities
I would like offer my opinion on the value of sidewalk plowing as part of the budget priorities discussion. I believe that the money used for sidewalk snow plowing would be better used elsewhere. Having lived in urban Toronto for a number of years before returning to Guelph, I know that people can and do […]
Sidewalk snow clearing
Raise property taxes, offer new services or cut existing services. These are the decisions that Guelph City Council considers when reviewing budgets. Since Guelph Transit’s move to a 40 minute bus schedule, residents have spoken loud and clear that they want to see an improvement in transit service as soon as possible. Of course this […]
Visiting Downtown Guelph tax proposed
The City of Guelph is considering a tax targeted at visitors and shoppers to Downtown. The plan being examined is primarily focused on locally owned businesses and will exclude virtually every regional and national retailer in Guelph. The City of Guelph has suffered from the downloading of responsibilities by it’s provincial parent, without the requisite funding. […]
Taxes no solution to budget crisis: councillors
The following article appeared in the October 24 edition of the Guelph Mercury: A day after Toronto City Council passed two new taxes in a bid to solve its budget woes, councillors in Guelph were reflecting on the landmark decision and what implications it may have on the fiscal autonomy of other municipalities in the […]