To the Editor,
Re: Other people’s cash eventually runs out, Letters, July 19.
Lots of people talk about HST versus GST. Taxes are part of our system. We must pay what we are told to pay, without asking the public sector to cut expenses.
Maybe we need a complete review.
We need answers to the age old question, ‘Where are politicians and municipal staff spending it?’
How can we cut costs?
If city staff or the firemen need new buildings, how are we going to cut costs to help, rather than just demanding new things?
A suggestion box may be in order for employees. They should go out and raise funds for their new buildings.
We need zero-based budgeting. We need the next council to look at every job and every function and review it to decide if that job is better served by the private sector (gained through attrition and contracting out).
Why do we simply agree to always pay more? Just because we are told to?
Consider that the taxes on your property go up three per cent. That’s modest nowadays.
Consider now that taxes also increase three per cent for commercial/industrial.
Please don’t say, ‘who cares about them?’
You do. Everything you buy, from shoes to gas to food, has to go up by three per cent.
Let’s justify our lifestyle.
Senior managers should also be required to find cost savings. The private sector does that.
For the upcoming election, I want to start hearing about fiscal responsibility, zero-based budgeting and what candidates stand for on the financial side.
We need candidates who are not protecting their political future, but want real changes.
Gordon Halkett
Nanaimo