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'ifa, u r g _ WA = f [ 75 3? W; ' 'is) Publ tel hum .t 'ern U E I Inc,. 3 I a: .x U E edn , sa ye Cum; 5: They E El ' ' I l he Waterloo Chronicle Pa 1 published everyWedncsdiiy " The Fairwas Group.adixtsioroofhourh- em ()manu Lummumn Newspapers Inc.. a duvisnon ot Soulham Publica, _ I Hang. a CanWest (humanly [In ilyTte \teridendrrrf (vi-m Mamce I Oman Sale- mmm mull yarn-nun. The views of our columnists are their own and do not uecessanTy represent those of the newspaper edttoriaRdhvaterltmchrm1icie.ca salespwaterloochrorticFca composingNaterloochronicle.ca WATERLOO CHRONICLE ken Boaveld Deborah (irandall Anode" Publhber Editor. in. " 5 The Wairrloo Chronicle welcomes letters in the Fd'iim, They should be signed with name. addrrss and phone numlser Ind win be verified for arrurary No limped letters will he published Submissions "my be edited " Mb, soplnse be brief r le In lanes Ind other mate. rials submitted m the Publisher Ind named For ptmiiration mains with the author, hm the publish" Ind m urrrssrrs mnv Ira-b- "(no dim them in print, electronic m other forms Our mailing addrev. ix 7. [my ht \ Suite 20t _ Wan-rum NI] "'2, niir r- mail milk?“ K edtmriaWwarrrloorhronirlr. l a and nm In numb" n 8116 “in Andrea Barley Bob \i’banar Reporter, Ext. 22? Spam Editor. Ext. 229 Regtool I Ital"!!! ”milled Man-m hairs, 523116” Deb Dumeld Karen OWN-l (Swarm (Simulation Man-g3, Ext. 225 Aisha-m 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2f IP2 International standard Serial Number amen-mg Mung Salem bu. 223 Sula. Fat. 222 Cartadian Nblrcatiors Mail Saks Product Agreement N u mber 40050473 Nun-rm Lyra Letters Policy Ken Bosveld 905523-5800, Ext. 239 885-2830 Fax: 886-93tI3 ”on Ham)! Associate Publisher: Audited circulaunn: 26,056 NiN0tEy.t-3410 Metissa Haunslm IurvrteHidRsvi" You may well ask, why is this necessary? The Record's reporter Terry Fender tells of RIM payments of $2.7 million a year from 2006.-- this is incorrect. We will be paying $4.7 million a year, hopefully the extra $2 million no one mentions will be paid for by profits from RIM Park. If for some reason there is a shortfall. then it must come from taxes or budget cuts. l was interested in getting the facts and figures from city hall. I had not realized that in 2001 the city took on 14 new _ - staff and that they l (1”th l ‘ had put the profit ‘ ‘ from Hydro, COLUMNIST‘ 5700.000. into the ‘ budget. In addi- l T ‘ tion, the same T i year had a 4.5» l ‘ percent growth _ , rate. All these fig- ures added I together meant ‘ that the four-per- ‘ cent tax Increase really translated MIKE i into 10.? per cent CONNOLLY ‘ extra spending or revenue over 2000. Staff's options for 2003 to 2006 contains $600,000 each year for new staff. If the aver- age staff salary is $44,000. this means an additional 27 new staff over the next four years! Is this essential? In addition, the options also show a figure of S300,000 put aside each year for staff's "cost of living" increases. f fully realize the city must nego- tiate with the unions for whatever wage increases would be fair over the next three to four years, but a tttree-per-cent increase each year would seem a little rich, especial- ly when the cost of living is only 1.9 to two per cent. any citizens are wondering just Mwhat is happening with Waterloo city hall on the RIM financing and just how it will affect their taxes. Much has been said and printed, but very few hard facts have been given to the public. What they do know is that after the Aug. 12 court- cil meeting, it seems the best one can expect is a six-per-cent tax increase for 2003. I do hope council looks closely at the 2003 budget to find areas they can reduce spending. Even if council only reduces the proposed increases in staff from 27 to l3 and the proposed pay increases from 12 per cent to 7.5 per cent. It would mean that we could cover the whole of the RIM re- payment in the next two years with tax increases of 4.2 per cent for 2003; 1.5 per cent for 2004. Any other tax increases above these amounts are not attributable to RIM financing, Other budget reductions could reduce these increases even further. We all need information on the city's finances. For my part, I find city staff always open to give me all the current and previous budget figures, and for that I thank them. It is not up to me to criticize or pass judgment on council in any way. I am only pointing out there are many ways to solve the RIM problem and soften the tax burden. I think it is right and fair that we all share the burden to solve the huge pay- ment needed for RIM, but the operative word is all. High tax increases in both pay and numbers, to my mind. seem m be a lit- tle one sided, What do you think? " is not an easy job on council. it carries enormous responsibilities. However, the public has the right to know all city revenue and all the spending, not just the tax increases. Has nothing been learned from the latest big corporate creative bookkeep- ingby Enron and Worldcom? A six-per-cent hike is not acceptable GUEST I COLUMNISTJ I . _ - ' I i I MIKE I VIEWPOINT , Lifestyles of the rich and famous Well, the Hollywood visitors represent a real coup for six months. After all, once the stars have lived amid the glitter and glamour of what once was Galt, where else will they find as attractive a As a matter of fact, the mini-invasion is having its impact on Cambridge. Some cafes down there are already serving a power breakfast: a bottle of water. halfa bran muffin and detafcoffee. Second Look: Well, the long-awaited RIM Park inquiry is under way and gosh, I figured it might last a week or so, But a story in this voice of truth and reason says it's expected to last six months Granted, the inquiry will convene only a couple of days a week, but the list of witnesses isn't long. So you_haw»to gum that they'll be long-winded. Rough tistimates aie that tiie inquiry will cost the city between S375,000 and 5600.000. It's hard to see where therell be value from it Everyone knows what happened; everyone knows what it cost. This sounds like a case of apportioning the blame, and surely we don't have to hold an inquiry worth hundreds of thousands to get the job done. Ah yes, a mistake is a lesson on its fix] way to being learned. You can always i learn hom the mistakes of others. The trouble is-were always the others. AllTogetherNow: Everyprovincegrewinthe first half of the War, but Ontario and Quebec could be hurt if the us economy doesn't pick up. And how do you like this as a part of a bank report: Newfoundland and Labrador are leading the pack, The Rock had the greatest momentum brxausethintparestirtingintheoilptMectsandin the Voisey's Bay nickel project. The Mills Gilnd: Pity the poor taxpayers in Waterloo. A lot of circumstances have conspired to make the tax bills real punishment. wee! Honest-to-goodness movie stars are Wstrolling the streets of Cambridge. And (dont mention this too loudly) they have even made the trek to Kitchener. The avowed purpose of the hear- ings is to ensure such a mistake won't happen again. Inquiry or not, it wouldn't happen again because the people ofWatedoo have memories. The Newtbundkmders deserve to catch a break Mayheoneofthesedaysthecodwillbeback.The fish will be fat and furious in numbers. And the Rock will bloom again! HRUNICLE - SAN DY BAIRD I know, some a, arGiatisaiiy tough to steal. butthereareatbeastattsvmakmsthatieavetheir vehicles an easy invitation to thieves :_- And, incidentally. one chap has 3Y already been hit. He uses an electric l? toothbrush. but his hill is so high they came and turned off his teeth. Meet Fancy: Waterloo Region is still bugged by vehicle thefts. the undertaking that spawns so many of our dark~houts car chases. It brings up a big point: mm all the rarimah-tara options available on the new cars, why cant the car makers find an easy theh-proofing? On TY polka have demonstrated that it takes only a minute and the vehide is available for mid- nierryridtsorasawhidepicked upasatheet And oh those police chases! There's only one thing wnrse than seeing a ifashing red light in your rear-view mirror. That is not sxving it and barking into it. Thousands of folks have been stunned to learn the full balance of their 2002 taxes must be paid between September and October. In past years the final payments were spread out over several months but this year things are different. Software limitations afWaterloo city hail, com- bined with Queen's Rtrk-imposed changes to prop- ertyjaxes. resulted in the tight schedule. The city was waiting for critical data from the Ontario Municipal Property Assessment Corpora- tion that determine the value of properties for tax purposes. The material was late in arriving and so the city couldn't work out the tax bills sooner. It's always something. Remember one thing about moneyand taxes. You can't take money with you. The city gov- ernment is just trying to make it easier to pack for the trip. Watts Up: Gosh, if Waterloo residents feel hard done by, they've got an added reason: They're pay- ing more for electricity than Kitchener or Cam- bridge. The sad tidings were disclosed by Thede which did some calcula- tion and found that a Waterioo North customer pays at least 13 per cent more to power a home--$214 compared to $190 for Cambridge and North Dum- fries Hydro and $l88 for Kitchener- Wilma! Hydro. Boy, that's apt to triggeran economy drive in Waterloo. There's apt to be a boom in the sale of Kerosene TV sets and wind-up flashlights.