In December we called on council to scrimp and save on the 2014 operating budget, and on Tuesday scrimp and save it did.
Between its own efforts and the efforts of municipal directors, the 2014 tax increase was cut by more than four percentage points, bringing it down to 2.05 per cent.
In layman’s terms, that equates to a $39.25 tax increase for a homeowner with a property assessed at $750,000. That’s down from the $120 increase that was proposed when the draft operating budget was presented late last year.
For this, council and administration deserve a round of applause.
Budgeting isn’t an easy process. In fact, it can be a painful one—as Coun. Rico Damota put it: it’s a bit like sitting in a dentist’s chair or chewing on tinfoil. But, the truth is, someone’s gotta do it. And fortunately for Jasper, the community has elected officials who were willing to go line-by-line through each and every page of the town’s operating budget, hunting for things to slash and burn.
Without those dedicated people, the town would be looking at the 6.38 per cent tax increase that was proposed three months ago, and business and homeowners would rightfully be up in arms.
So all in all this is a success story for the municipality.
But, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement—room to make the process a little less painful.
Because let us tell you, it was painful.
Anyone who sat through the deliberations would have to agree on that fact. It truly was like a trip to the dentist.
During last week’s committee-of-the-whole meeting, council talked in circles for hours upon hours without coming to concrete decisions. By the end of the seven hour day, there were ideas of how to cut the budget, but they hadn’t been solidified or agreed upon.
So, when it came time to vote on the budget Feb. 18, there was still a lot for council to discuss, and that resulted in another four hour meeting, as council yet again hashed out all of the possible cuts.
This process, although effective in the end, proved inefficient and was enough to get Coun. Damota “hot under the collar.”
Following the vote on the budget, Damota—who voted against the motion because of the inefficiency of the process—voiced his hopes that in future years, council will learn from this year’s stumbles.
We can only hope the same. Because, goodness knows, we can only handle two visits to the dentist chair a year.
