What's the big news? This is absolutely nothing new. These the same numbers that we've been seeing all along. Add the loan for affordable housing and the loan for the proposed recreation center, include the district contribution to the sewer treatment facility, and we're still looking at the same 17 million dollar total debt for the taxpayers of Tofino.......and property taxes to local residents will still be raised by some 53% over the next five years, and we will all still be paying this off for the next 25 years! The Osborne administration has accomplished nothing! True, these are real contributions from the federal and provincial governments, but they're nothing new. They were announced long ago, this is just an echo, a repeat of previous knowledge. There's nothing new here. Not a lie, but clearly an attempt to deceive the taxpayers of Tofino into believing the something has been accomplished, when nothing new actually has. Shameful that our municipal government would mislead us in this manner.
This below was posted here 9 days ago. Since then, nothing has changed. Except the Osborne Administrations decision to "re-announce" funding from senior governments that was already in place.
"Last year, the federal government collected 30 million$ (GST), and the provincial government collected 24 million$ (PST) in sales taxes on tourism based activitites in Tofino. That's just the sales taxes. The federal and provincial governments also collected millions and millions in income taxes, real estate taxes, gas taxes, taxes not related to tourism, and multiple other taxes and fees, making Tofino a great "cash cow" for the senior levels of government. Tourism produces money!
Meanwhile, the 1800 residents of Tofino are tasked with paying for a disproportinate part of the cost of the mandated sewage disposal facility that the more than 1,000,000 visitors of the tourism industry requires. The solution? Well, according to our mayor, the solution is massive long term debt (a 17 million dollar loan), that the residents of Tofino will be paying off for the next 25 years. DEBT WILL KILL YOU! Families will continue to be forced out of town, unable to afford huge property tax increases. Young people will not be able to afford to get that first home, that start on building their lifetime nestegg. Seniors will be forced out of town, unable to afford to retire here. People still will be unable to find a place to live, as developers are hamstrung by unaffordable costs to develop new housing. Surely there's a better solution.
If the federal government could toss in 5 million this year and 5 million next year, and the provincial government could toss in 3.5 million this year and 3.5 million next year (This isn't a lot, considering the huge bags of money they're hauling out of here every year), then there would be no need for this huge loan being proposed by our municipal leaders.
We could then, perhaps, focus our municipal efforts toward a much needed increase in our public water supply, or toward a solution to our "lack of housing" crisis. Hell, we might even be able to get some sidewalks for the kids to use walking to school!
Our municipal government, so far, hasn't had much success in convincing the federal and provincial to see our way of looking at these ideas. Perhaps our municipal government, backed by a strong Ratepayers Association, backed by 1800 voices of the public, backed by an aggressive media campaign, could be more effective at getting some attention paid to the massive tax increases faced by the residents of Tofino.
The Tofino Ratepayers Association is dedicated to finding the best deals we can get, and the best "bang for the buck" that we can get, for the residents and taxpayers of Tofino. Your money. Your town. We're on your side. Join us, help find the solutions."
Hurrah! We get to borrow millions of dollars that most people won't be able to afford. Hamstring the community for a generation. Let's celebrate! Tofitians the new endangered species. It will be great. The environment will be pure, and fewer and fewer who work here will be able to live here. Good for the environment. Good for the tourists and those who play here. If they don't do something else, Sucks Balls for the community.
Would you hire a dentist to re-wire your garage? Would you get a painter to rebuild the engine of your car? How about a professional wrestler to teach your kids about poetry? Well, in Tofino, they elected a biologist to oversee the public bank accounts. This is NOT going to end well.
You are correct Ralph. They get plenty of "expert advise" and bookkeeping, but it is the Mayors and Councils who have made the policy and made the decisions. The buck stops there.
There must be other choices. Yes, there are!! Here's one: The District of Tofino owns large pieces of land. Two choices here: CHOICE 1-Sell big chunks of this land to private developers, raise immediate cash from the property sale, and then more cash later in development fees, amenities fees, property taxes. This is probably the best solution, these private developers are financed, organized, and ready to get to work.
CHOICE 2- Subdivide chunks of this land into individual building lots and sell the lots to local people wanting to build a house on them. Raise immediate cash from the land sale, and more cash later from development fees and property taxes. The problem with this approach is that this puts the District in the position of developing the lots, perhaps putting in roads, water, sewer etc., and they don't have the knowledge or experience of how to oversee this. It could end up being a quagmire, and all the cash lost to consultants fees. Instead of the District going with CHOICE 2, it could be a condition of CHOICE 1 that the developers are required to give local residents a discounted rate on the purchase of single family sized lots, or something of that sort, to give local young families a shot at owning their own home. CHOICE 1 or CHOICE 2 both raise cash (lots of cash) instead of going 17 million dollars into debt to pay our sewage disposal bill. CHOICE 1 or CHOICE 2 would solve most of our lack of housing crisis. People need places to live, so why not free up some land and build some houses?
Instead, our municipal government chooses to GIVE THE LAND AWAY to the affordable housing fiasco. That land belongs to the people of Tofino, it's worth millions of dollars, and THEY"RE GIVING IT AWAY to a group who, for over 15 years, and after the waste of hundreds of thousands of dollars of public funds, have proven themselves unable to even get the first shovel in the ground. AND NOW THEY WANT EVEN MORE MONEY, from the RMI tax.
This is just a quick glance at ONE possible solution available to us, instead of a decades long 17 million dollar debt. Just a quick glance. Yes, there will be obstacles, I'd expect. There are also other solutions out there, and we've got some pretty smart people in this town willing to help find them.
When you "need" a new truck, and the wife says "No, You cannot put this family thousands of dollars into debt, we simply cannot afford it. If you want a new truck, you'll just have to find another way of getting the money to pay for it." Then what do you do? You find another way. Maybe you sell your boat, cut back on all your other expenses and spending, and you get busy with a savings plan and maybe you put the new truck off for a few years (there IS an option available for Tofino to apply for up to a ten year extension on the deadline for the sewage treatment completion). YES! There are other choices.
Join the Tofino Ratepayers Association. A non-profit group of citizens, just like you, searching for compromise and reasonable solutions to Tofino's municipal fiscal shortcomings. Check out their website www.publicpurse.ca . Your Money-Your Town-Stronger Together
Of course there will. Nothing worth having comes easy. It's going to take work, compromise, co-operation, sacrifice. Let's start with finding some of the solutions to those obstacles.
We've got a nice group of citizens, sitting and drinking coffee, in The District Office, being paid over three million dollars a year to identify these solutions that we all want and need.
We also have another nice group of citizens, public servants who offered their service, and who we elected to tell this other group to get to work, coffee break's over.
With regards the experts in the financial department , engineering department and consultants, who was in charge when we gave a million dollars of water away to the resorts. Sure could use that money now.
When are the Ratepayers people, who post here, encouraging us to join, going to do something, anything, other than post here. Posting here is connecting with less than 5% of Tofitians. Has Council itself actually been given a presentation.
Don't get me wrong. They have a worthy cause and some good arguments, but posting on Ralph's blog just isn't going to get it done.
8:54 AM...... It's coming. I understand that you're a bit impatient, but we're trying to insure that everything gets done properly, and getting organized takes longer than we'd like. You'll soon see a public advertising blitz, a facebook page, the announcement of our first annual general meeting, submissions to council and other branches of government, etc etc. Lots of work to be done. Join us, we need all the members we can get, and all the support we can muster, to help us get it all done. Here's a peek at our new website, still being built: www.tofinorpa.ca
Most importantly, we need to hear from YOU. Join us, tell us your thoughts and ideas, share your ideas for change or improvement. We're only putting together the association, it will be up to YOU, the residents of Tofino, to make it work...... YOUR MONEY--YOUR TOWN
@9:52 AM. Apparently, there's enough water available to allow the giveaway of acres of land and hundreds of thousands of dollars to The Affordable Housing Boondoggle. So there must be enough water to support a sensible solution, as well, or instead of.
17 comments:
Just wait.
Now the grant money is there, the price tag will rise.
What's the big news? This is absolutely nothing new. These the same numbers that we've been seeing all along. Add the loan for affordable housing and the loan for the proposed recreation center, include the district contribution to the sewer treatment facility, and we're still looking at the same 17 million dollar total debt for the taxpayers of Tofino.......and property taxes to local residents will still be raised by some 53% over the next five years, and we will all still be paying this off for the next 25 years!
The Osborne administration has accomplished nothing!
True, these are real contributions from the federal and provincial governments, but they're nothing new. They were announced long ago, this is just an echo, a repeat of previous knowledge. There's nothing new here. Not a lie, but clearly an attempt to deceive the taxpayers of Tofino into believing the something has been accomplished, when nothing new actually has.
Shameful that our municipal government would mislead us in this manner.
This below was posted here 9 days ago. Since then, nothing has changed. Except the Osborne Administrations decision to "re-announce" funding from senior governments that was already in place.
"Last year, the federal government collected 30 million$ (GST), and the provincial government collected 24 million$ (PST) in sales taxes on tourism based activitites in Tofino.
That's just the sales taxes.
The federal and provincial governments also collected millions and millions in income taxes, real estate taxes, gas taxes, taxes not related to tourism, and multiple other taxes and fees, making Tofino a great "cash cow" for the senior levels of government. Tourism produces money!
Meanwhile, the 1800 residents of Tofino are tasked with paying for a disproportinate part of the cost of the mandated sewage disposal facility that the more than 1,000,000 visitors of the tourism industry requires.
The solution? Well, according to our mayor, the solution is massive long term debt (a 17 million dollar loan), that the residents of Tofino will be paying off for the next 25 years. DEBT WILL KILL YOU! Families will continue to be forced out of town, unable to afford huge property tax increases. Young people will not be able to afford to get that first home, that start on building their lifetime nestegg. Seniors will be forced out of town, unable to afford to retire here. People still will be unable to find a place to live, as developers are hamstrung by unaffordable costs to develop new housing. Surely there's a better solution.
If the federal government could toss in 5 million this year and 5 million next year, and the provincial government could toss in 3.5 million this year and 3.5 million next year (This isn't a lot, considering the huge bags of money they're hauling out of here every year), then there would be no need for this huge loan being proposed by our municipal leaders.
We could then, perhaps, focus our municipal efforts toward a much needed increase in our public water supply, or toward a solution to our "lack of housing" crisis. Hell, we might even be able to get some sidewalks for the kids to use walking to school!
Our municipal government, so far, hasn't had much success in convincing the federal and provincial to see our way of looking at these ideas. Perhaps our municipal government, backed by a strong Ratepayers Association, backed by 1800 voices of the public, backed by an aggressive media campaign, could be more effective at getting some attention paid to the massive tax increases faced by the residents of Tofino.
The Tofino Ratepayers Association is dedicated to finding the best deals we can get, and the best "bang for the buck" that we can get, for the residents and taxpayers of Tofino. Your money. Your town. We're on your side. Join us, help find the solutions."
Hurrah! We get to borrow millions of dollars that most people won't be able to afford. Hamstring the community for a generation. Let's celebrate! Tofitians the new endangered species. It will be great. The environment will be pure, and fewer and fewer who work here will be able to live here. Good for the environment. Good for the tourists and those who play here. If they don't do something else, Sucks Balls for the community.
Would you hire a dentist to re-wire your garage? Would you get a painter to rebuild the engine of your car? How about a professional wrestler to teach your kids about poetry? Well, in Tofino, they elected a biologist to oversee the public bank accounts.
This is NOT going to end well.
We have a financial department to advise the mayor. Many consultants are also hired.
You are correct Ralph. They get plenty of "expert advise" and bookkeeping, but it is the Mayors and Councils who have made the policy and made the decisions. The buck stops there.
There must be other choices. Yes, there are!!
Here's one:
The District of Tofino owns large pieces of land.
Two choices here: CHOICE 1-Sell big chunks of this land to private developers, raise immediate cash from the property sale, and then more cash later in development fees, amenities fees, property taxes. This is probably the best solution, these private developers are financed, organized, and ready to get to work.
CHOICE 2- Subdivide chunks of this land into individual building lots and sell the lots to local people wanting to build a house on them. Raise immediate cash from the land sale, and more cash later from development fees and property taxes. The problem with this approach is that this puts the District in the position of developing the lots, perhaps putting in roads, water, sewer etc., and they don't have the knowledge or experience of how to oversee this. It could end up being a quagmire, and all the cash lost to consultants fees.
Instead of the District going with CHOICE 2, it could be a condition of CHOICE 1 that the developers are required to give local residents a discounted rate on the purchase of single family sized lots, or something of that sort, to give local young families a shot at owning their own home.
CHOICE 1 or CHOICE 2 both raise cash (lots of cash) instead of going 17 million dollars into debt to pay our sewage disposal bill.
CHOICE 1 or CHOICE 2 would solve most of our lack of housing crisis. People need places to live, so why not free up some land and build some houses?
Instead, our municipal government chooses to GIVE THE LAND AWAY to the affordable housing fiasco. That land belongs to the people of Tofino, it's worth millions of dollars, and THEY"RE GIVING IT AWAY to a group who, for over 15 years, and after the waste of hundreds of thousands of dollars of public funds, have proven themselves unable to even get the first shovel in the ground. AND NOW THEY WANT EVEN MORE MONEY, from the RMI tax.
This is just a quick glance at ONE possible solution available to us, instead of a decades long 17 million dollar debt. Just a quick glance. Yes, there will be obstacles, I'd expect.
There are also other solutions out there, and we've got some pretty smart people in this town willing to help find them.
When you "need" a new truck, and the wife says "No, You cannot put this family thousands of dollars into debt, we simply cannot afford it. If you want a new truck, you'll just have to find another way of getting the money to pay for it." Then what do you do? You find another way. Maybe you sell your boat, cut back on all your other expenses and spending, and you get busy with a savings plan and maybe you put the new truck off for a few years (there IS an option available for Tofino to apply for up to a ten year extension on the deadline for the sewage treatment completion).
YES! There are other choices.
Join the Tofino Ratepayers Association. A non-profit group of citizens, just like you, searching for compromise and reasonable solutions to Tofino's municipal fiscal shortcomings. Check out their website www.publicpurse.ca . Your Money-Your Town-Stronger Together
"Yes, there will be obstacles, I'd expect"
Of course there will. Nothing worth having comes easy.
It's going to take work, compromise, co-operation, sacrifice.
Let's start with finding some of the solutions to those obstacles.
We've got a nice group of citizens, sitting and drinking coffee, in The District Office, being paid over three million dollars a year to identify these solutions that we all want and need.
We also have another nice group of citizens, public servants who offered their service, and who we elected to tell this other group to get to work, coffee break's over.
Gotta start somewhere.
With regards the experts in the financial department , engineering department and consultants, who was in charge when we gave a million dollars of water away to the resorts. Sure could use that money now.
8:57 there's no water. the district just gave all of the reserve supply to the new campground
When are the Ratepayers people, who post here, encouraging us to join, going to do something, anything, other than post here. Posting here is connecting with less than 5% of Tofitians. Has Council itself actually been given a presentation.
Don't get me wrong. They have a worthy cause and some good arguments, but posting on Ralph's blog just isn't going to get it done.
True ! Most people don’t read this blog. They read Facebook pages.
8:54 AM...... It's coming. I understand that you're a bit impatient, but we're trying to insure that everything gets done properly, and getting organized takes longer than we'd like. You'll soon see a public advertising blitz, a facebook page, the announcement of our first annual general meeting, submissions to council and other branches of government, etc etc. Lots of work to be done. Join us, we need all the members we can get, and all the support we can muster, to help us get it all done.
Here's a peek at our new website, still being built: www.tofinorpa.ca
Most importantly, we need to hear from YOU. Join us, tell us your thoughts and ideas, share your ideas for change or improvement. We're only putting together the association, it will be up to YOU, the residents of Tofino, to make it work...... YOUR MONEY--YOUR TOWN
@9:52 AM. Apparently, there's enough water available to allow the giveaway of acres of land and hundreds of thousands of dollars to The Affordable Housing Boondoggle. So there must be enough water to support a sensible solution, as well, or instead of.
Regarding reading this blog.....it’s left too long between posts so we forget. It started with regular posts. Just saying.
Guest posts are welcome
Post a Comment