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editorial@waterloochronicle.ca sports@waterloochronicle.ca sales@waterloochronicle.ca composing@waterloochronicle.ca every Wednesday by the Farrway Group, owned by CityMedia Group Inc., a subsichary of Torstar Corp The content of this paper is protected by copyright and may be used only for personal non commercial purposes All other rights are reserved and _ commercial use is profubited To make use of ttis material you must first obtain the perttussion of the published Submissions may be edited for length. so please be brief (Copyoight in letters and other materials sutmitted to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author. but the publisher and its licensees may freety reproduce them in print electrani or other farms Our mailing address is 279 Weber St N Unit 20 Waterlaa N21 IP? WATERLOO CHRONICLE The Waterloo (hromcle is published The Watertoo Chronicle welcomes lerters to the Hditor. 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Bab \zhanae Composing This will lead to a more optimal level of munici pal services and a better quality of life for many citi zens who cannot absorh continuing high tax increases. In the case of RIM Park and Grey Sito Golf Course inonâ€"essential facilities}, the actual cost should include â€" in addition to operating and mainteâ€" nance expenses â€" the carrying cost of the capital provided by the taxpayers. In fact. the user fees for Grev Silo Golf Course should also include the opporâ€" tunity cost for the loss of property taxes that would be generated if the facility was owned by the private sector. My input into this year‘s community budget is twoâ€"fold: * The city must take steps to correct the very inctâ€" ficient use of resources (taxpayers money) by previâ€" ous councils in building large, nonâ€"essential faciliâ€" ties such as RIM Park and Grey Silo Golf Course, and thereby stop passing the city‘s financial problems on to the taxpayers. This correction could mean raising the user fees to where they cover all costs (including carrying and opportunity costs}, or the disposal and/or mothballing of selected facilities; similar to the federal government‘s action when it realized the mistake it made overbuilding Mirabelle Airport. ven Ontarios Liberal government is looking to cut some programs and sell some assets to control spending and halance the budget; * The city should not levy tax increases beyond the current rate of inflation without submitting the proposal to all taxpayers in a cityâ€"wide referendum. Waterloo must become a mature and responsible city. with a government that serves its citizens responsibly, efficiently and fairly The financial resources of a municipality are the taxes paid by the local constituents. Efficient use of resources {that is. taxpayers‘ money) means that beneficiaries of nonâ€"essential facilities built with taxpayers money should pay user fees that at least equal the cost of the nonâ€"essential facility. 1 agree with the view of Prof. Emeritus Emil Frind of the University of Waterloo. He wrote in a second opinion (column} in the Record recently that "Waterloo just passes its financial problems on to the taxpayer." Economics Prof. Harry Kitchen of Trent Universiâ€" ty defined Waterloo‘s financial problems very clearly in his Sept. 21 article in the Globe and Mail. He wrote, "Municipal user fees are almost always ineffiâ€" cient because they are get to generate revenue rather than to direct resources to their most efficient use. He went on to say, "This tendency has led to overinvestment in services and the building of unnecessarily large plants or facilities. Waterloo fits Dr. Kitchen‘s description perfectly. A recent survey, as part of the city‘s facilities review, revealed that the city has 50 per cent more recreational building facilities per capita than the average for Ontario. 1 won‘t be able to attend either of the community budget input sessions, but would like to provide some input into the city‘s 2005 budget now. I LETTERS TO THE CHRONICLE | _ One is prompted to wonder what need there is for community input budget sessions. Is the operaâ€" tion of RIM Park under control? It doesn‘t sound to me as if the "bleeding" has stopped. Or, is council aware that RIM Park is a bona fide "white elephant" and that everâ€"increasing taxes are in store for Waterâ€" loo residents. Walerloo council is urging the public to attend community budget input sessions on Oct. 19 and 21. For what purpose? Waterloo Coun. Jan d‘Ailly has stated that the city is maintaining its plan for a 6.4 per cent tax increase in 2005. [Note: this is on top of the 10.4 per cent tax increase in 2004 and a planned 4.2 per cent increase in 2006.) What‘s the purpose of input sessions? VIEWPOINT Dick Tyssen Waterion Now once is enough, if not too much. It‘s a grim moaning on the morning after, and it‘s not to be undertaken lightly. The young folks are still drawn to the beer and oomâ€" pahâ€"pah routine, but they‘ll grow older and pay fewer visits to the festhalls as the years pile on. Of course, in the meantime “ 227 they‘ll be weaving around the festhalls. Some of the fellows really overdo it. One of the chaps got a blood test the other day and they found a cherry in it. What a Parade! For our money, the big Oktoberfest event is that parade that comes Thanksgiving Lay. It‘s the best ever in the [win Cities. It always comes off as great. The mixture of bands. the great music, the colourful cos tumes, the superb floats, the clowns and the costumed folks make for a real treat There‘s only one thing that could a hitch If the rain pours down. the parade could be awash in soggy spectators Occasionally there‘s liahle to hbe some mistake For instance, the government weather It‘s hard on the ears, for sure, and on the digestion in due course. And the impact becomes heavier as the vears roll by. That‘s why we older folk don‘t flock to the beer celebraâ€" tion the way we used to. Once upon a time, it was no trick to tumble out a few nights of the week. I suppose it‘s a lot like the observances of other years â€" torrents of beer, tons of food, many assorted blats from a big, fat horn and the thumpâ€"thump of drums. Weatherman needs a new coin Big for Beer: Wow! It‘s Oktoberfest time again. It snuck up on me while I wasn‘t watching. and now it‘s halfway over before I‘ve laid an adjective to it. * espite the wishes of Waterloo, the D RIM Park financing fiasco is officially kaput. Attorney General Michael Bryant in a letâ€" ter to Mayor Epp confirms that he feels the Waterloo Regional Police can do no more on the case. Despite some orators to council, all must accept that the new council is blameless in the deal. Totally blameless. Honesty mé)-’ pay, but some people are never convinced it‘s enough. His rival leaders have been quick ta demand amendments or else they‘ll test him in the Commons voting. Harper has a variety of things he wants to crab about while Layton maybe thinks there a chance for represential voting. It may come, but it deserves a lot of thought. The system we have now _ known as "First past the post" _ has worked well enough <H _ Maybe there‘s a lesson there DY for all us. Never hesitate to give help and advice. It passes the D time and nobody heeds them anyhow. Beneath tze Throne: Paui Martin has had his throne speech delivered, but it‘s apparently not counted for all that much. ft‘s probably mostly hlufiing. fory leader Stephan Harper sounds like wind and NDP chief Jack Layton even more so. Way to Go: Waterloo‘s new search for a chief administrative officer is apparently going well. The hunt will continue until the bad guys are put in cuffs. And then they‘ll get some years in the chokey which should serve them right. Most of us would like to trust our fellow citizens, but the fact is we‘ll trust it more when we stop hauling money around in armored cars. The police found the stolen getaway car and dusted it for prints, but they‘re still looking for the chaps involved. man had been predicting rain for three months. But then he found out his coin was twoâ€"headed. Bigâ€"Time Heist: The Kitchener bank robbery the other day strikes you as a bigâ€" time stickup. _ First of all, the chief hood enters the bank with a machine gun and departs with an armload of moolah. What‘s more, the consultants who worked on the first nonâ€" appointment are helping out in the new goingsâ€"on. For instance, Gerry Thompâ€" son, who retired in June after 31 years with the Region of Waterâ€" 100, is helping out. Gerry was regional CAO when he packed it in, and he knows the field. He‘s doing it at the right price. He‘s doing it for free.