An Open Letter from the Drivers of Guelph Transit

Lost in the rush to indict the drivers of Guelph Transit on the whole overtime fracas, is their side of the story. This open letter from the drivers of Guelph Transit has been making the rounds online, including Cam Guthrie's blog and Ian Findlay's blog. I mentioned it on the last edition of "The Guelph Hour" on Beyond the Ballot Box, and I wanted to post it here too. The picutre it paints suggests that the maybe there's bigger operational problems with the city's mass transit service.

Press Release - Tax Increase to be One Per Cent Less

As the budget process heads into the home stretch, it seems that the city has found some extra change in the couch cushions, at least enough to knock down the expected tax burden by about one per cent. As it stands now, the tax increase for 2014 is expected to be 2.37 per cent as opposed to the previously reported 3.36 per cent. 

The cut comes courtesy of new figures from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) and the County of Wellington, and despite the fact that the total operating budget is now $400,000 more than the initial estimate released on November 5th. That's good news for city hall deficit hawks, and good news for the average tax payer, but will all parties be satisfied with an increase that's still more than a full point more than the cost of inflation?

Press Release - Water Rates on Rise, Not By Much

Prepare to pay 13 cents more for your water services. That's the total change in increases approved by city for the Water and Wastewater Services, Building Code Administration and Court Services budgets. Of course, that doesn't come out to a 13 cent increase on your bill. The average bill will see an increase from $781 to $808, which is $27 or 3.5 per cent more, but the city notes that this is the smallest increase in these costs in five years (which is sure to be small comfort to those getting the bill).

Details of 2014 Budget Released

It's that time of year again, the time to discuss the whats, wheres, whens and hows of the city's fiscal allocation. That is to say it's budget time. Always a difficult, and sometimes contentious, process the yearly budget battle struggles to keep up with the increased cost of services and the desire to make the tax burden as small as possible. Council consistently tries new things to make the process as smooth and as transparent as possible, and sometimes there's success and sometimes there isn't. But here we are again, and here we go again, with the deliberations for the 2014 budget.

The details of the 2014 budget thus far were outlined in a press release from city hall today. By the numbers, the proposed 2014 budget comes out to $192,865,918, which is a 3.36 per cent increase over last year. Interestingly, the city's decided to de-emphasize the need for new spending in this budget, so the total 3.36 per cent increase accounts for 2.73 per cent to maintain current programs and services, with an additional 0.63 per cent for investments in "initiatives designed to streamline and optimize City operations."

Council to Talk Water Rates and Other Money Matters

As previously reported, the budgeting season has begun and everything that costs anything in the City of Guelph is going to be up for bids. At a meeting at City Hall on October 24, community members are being invited to give input about non-tax supported budget items.

City Budget Process Gets Started with Capital Investment

It's the most wonderful time of the year, city budget consultation time. The process begins on October 1st this year with the presentation of Guelph's Capital Investment Strategy, and city hall's looking for your feedback on what Guelph should spend money on in order to improve the roads, and parks, and other infrastructure that make the Royal City home.