2012 City of Brandon Budget Petition

When I was thinking about what to first write about last week, I knew it would be something relating to the proposed 2012 City of Brandon Budget. I certainly didn't think the topic would be a petition asking council to reconsider proceeding with the current budget, but given recent developments and the petition now closing in on 500 signatures, I felt this is a timely and important post to make.

It doesn't matter to me whether an online petition such as the one that is circulating is legally valid or not. What does matter to me is that almost 500 residents of our city have taken their time to publicly add their name to a document stating that they are not satisfied with our city's proposed budget.

On December 10, 2011, I was one of three councillors to vote against the proposed budget. During the two day deliberations, I asked what the "dollars and cents" impact would be for the average ($200,000) homeowner. With an increase of over $320 (on average, not including Brandon School Division), I knew that this budget would be unaffordable for the residents of our city. The average increase is approximately 15%, with some residents' increases approaching 30%. This is not a sustainable way to grow our city. In fact, I would argue, it does the exact opposite.

Increases such as this make it harder for fixed-income seniors to stay in their homes, as pension increases are not even close to even keeping up with inflation, let alone tax increases. It puts potential first-time young homeowners further out of the market as the tax increases add additional expenses to factor in to their home purchase. Everyone in our city, regardless of where you live or how much you make, is affected by this budget.

These increases will also affect the rental market, and negatively affect the affordability of rent for many residents. While landlords are allowed modest increases to rent (1-2%), their taxes and other expenses are rising drastically. These increased costs will be passed along to the tenant, as the landlord may ask the province for additional increases to offset their additional expenses. This will result in increasing rental rates, further straining the budget of many low to middle income residents.

We have received many emails and phone calls over the last few weeks, and I want to personally thank the residents for taking time to contact me with your concerns, questions, and ideas. While I admit that I have not been able to personally reply to each and every email, I want you all to know that your comments are all valid, and assure you that they have been listened to.

It is clear when I read through the petition signatures and comments that there is genuine concern from our residents on the impacts the proposed budget will have on them personally, on their businesses, and on our city as a whole. I share many of these concerns, as I too am affected by the increases as a single home owner.

We continue to work on the budget. Council and Administration will meet later this week to look for additional ways to reduce our expenditures, and in doing so, reduce the tax increases that our residents and businesses will pay.

Stay tuned.....