I had some difficulty with the explanatory figures provided by Vernon with my 2014 tax bill. I guess they were calculated with the new math because my old style arithmetic (where two plus two equals four) did not get the same answers the city did.
Vernon says its 2014 taxes are 3.97 per cent more than its 2013 taxes. So, I took the average tax paid in 2013 of $981.86 and multiplied it by 1.0397 which, I was taught way back when, should give what the average tax will be in 2014. But the answer I got was $1,020.84. That’s $54.15 less than the $1,074.99 that the city provided as the 2014 average tax bill. Hmmm.
OK, I see that Vernon took over parks in 2014 from the Regional District of North Okanagan. So a bit of subtraction showed that the RDNO tax bill dropped by $50.52 and a bit of addition showed that the Vernon tax bill increased by $93.13. Gee, isn’t amalgamation supposed to reduce our tax bill? Hmmm.
Vernon claims that $200,000 in administration costs was eliminated by shifting management of local parks to it. That’s great but I guess the savings only show up when you use the new math.
The old-style arithmetic I was taught just doesn’t seem to cut it anymore. Hmmm.
Vernon says 1.9 per cent of the tax increase was due to a capital fund levy to keep our infrastructure up to snuff. That’s OK by me but adding a multi use pathway to the 29th Street corridor does not meet my definition of infrastructure. I was taught infrastructure means basic services such as water, sewage, roads. Apparently Vernon has redefined infrastructure to include fancy landscaped pathways that reduce on street parking. Hmmm.
I note the capital levy is cumulative. Hopefully, that just means ongoing in Vernon-speak. If it stays at 1.9 per cent in next year’s budget rather than doubling to 3.8 per cent then we will know, won’t we?
Usually I think of adding stuff such as electronic billing and filing systems as being cost-savers. But nope, they account for 0.5 per cent of our budget increase. I guess for Vernon, it’s like how they saved us taxpayers money by spending almost $300,000 to relocate the tourist info center off highway. Hmmm.
Oh, part of that 0.5 per cent increase is for snow clearing improvements.
By watching Allenby Way, I learned something about why snow clearing costs more.
By observation I saw that after Allenby was put on a diet (that’s a Vernon-speak term), it not only has a city bobcat come and plow the multi-use pathway after a snowfall, but also gets a city bobcat to come and sweep the multi-use path clear of sand. Hmmm.
Where I live in Bella Vista, we don’t even have sidewalks let alone have them plowed and swept. Nor do we have curbs, storm sewers or bike lanes.
So why are some parts of town getting fancy multi-use paths with complimentary plowing and sweeping, whether they want them or not, while others lack basic amenities? Hmmm.
Let’s elect a council this November that is better at separating the wheat from the chaff. I agree multi-use paths are nice to have as are an improved art gallery and museum and I agree something needs to be done about the aging Civic Arena as well, but first let’s get some of our potholes fixed. Put our city propaganda/bafflegab spin doctors on a strict diet and they better heed what concerned citizens have to say when they take the trouble to respond to council’s request for public input.
Jim Bodkin
Vernon
