Dear Editor:
RE: Council passes budget with 3.8% tax hike, Dec. 18.
Once again, another municipality is out of touch with reality. The Town of Erin is doing a lousy job of spinning the proposed property tax increase of 3.8 per cent.
Unless you work in the public sector, I don’t know of too many people that can look forward to a 3.8% pay increase. We moved to this town 14 years ago and were told that the high property taxes were due to a lack of a commercial tax base and too much reliance on the residential taxpayers. And yet, 14 years later, all that has been done is adding more residential and more taxes.
CAO Rob Adams justifies the increase to “prepare for growth and infrastructure that continues to be built.” If that’s the case, we can do without the growth. He also justifies the increase because it “is in keeping with range of similar municipalities.” That is a poor benchmark to judge your fiscal responsibility on.
Adams goes on to compare the cost to a cup of coffee per day. Does he realize the price of coffee has increased 77% this past year? His comment is actually very condescending.
Councillor Cathy Aylard made a very valid point when she said it’s hard to understand this increase when there are no new hires and no new added services. She is not the only one uncomfortable with this budget.
Stephen Charbonneau,
Erin
*Editor’s note: According to the latest Statistics Canada data, coffee prices rose by about 28% this year and by about 74% since 2020.