I call it the “Kraft Dinner Price Index”. When I was in University (1987), Kraft Dinner was a staple, I would watch closely until a sale went on for Four Boxes for $0.99 cents! That was and still is my baseline.
Today four boxes of Kraft Dinner cost $10.00 and the boxes are decidedly smaller.
Inflation and How it Affects Taxes
Families across Ward 3 are faced with rapidly increasing Inflation, greater costs on gas, food, activities for their children, car maintenance and the list just goes on. As you can see in the graphic below inflation over the last year has now gone as high as 3.2% and is currently at 2.8% overall.
As we all know, the cost of living continues to rise. But what does that mean for your take-home pay? It’s a question we should all be asking ourselves. Did your income increase by more than 3.5% over the past year just to keep pace with inflation?
If your answer is no—as it is for many of us—there is another concern: property taxes. Council will soon begin discussions on next year’s municipal budget. Even if the proposed increase is simply intended to keep pace with inflation, say 3%, the impact of Ontario Regulation 588/17 could add significantly to that number. When these factors are combined, the total increase could approach 5% or potentially even higher. For the final amount of the increase we will need to see what council decides.
For more information on Ontario Regulation 588/17 and its potential impact, please see my article: Click Here.
A Simple Example
As a resident of Ward 3, I drive on 3rd Concession (Watson’s Corner’s Road) regularly. Despite being a paved road and great patching efforts by Lanark Highlands staff, some sections seem worse than the gravel roads nearby. The question becomes, do we replace it, repair it or just keep driving on it? Some of this question is what Regulation 588/17 is all about.
What would I do?
This is not an easy question to answer. It is clear that people in Ward 3 want bridges, roads and other infrastructure maintained and improved where possible. On the other hand inflation has given us less disposable income and it becomes a trade off of existing services vs. tax increases. My approach to taxes is the same as it is to the 588/17 regulation.
I believe we need to work hard to:
- maximize Grants that we can use for needed improvements
- undertake a full cost-of-service review. Should some user fees be raised?
- can we share some resources like administrative, IT etc. with surrounding municipalities?
- increase preventive maintenance and rehabilitation before it becomes a major failure
- prioritize assets based on risk instead of age. Consider the probability of failure as well as the consequence of failure over the age of the asset
- dispose of assets that are not needed
- take a look and a second look in house for savings before just passing the expenses onto residents. How can we use less electricity, fuel, software and other resources as members of council and staff.
On election day, I would be honoured to earn your vote for Ward 3 Councillor.