CambridgeToday received the following letter expressing disappointment that council did not take steps to reverse tax hikes when it had the chance.
Having read the official announcement from Cambridge Council with regard the 2024 tax increases, I’d like to convey my disappointment.
After attending the public delegation meeting where I listened to both financial professionals and financially informed Cambridge citizens, I was hoping for a different outcome with regards to our 2024 municipal tax increase.
Personally, I spoke with a couple of councillors to convey that recent rate increases to municipal taxes are not sustainable. I also offered suggestions and possible solutions for lowering expenses that hunger for more and more of our hard-earned dollars.
Unfortunately, much of the citizen comments and suggestions seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Instead, Council chose to stay the course of consistently raising taxes in multiple times that of inflation. It’s left me to conclude taxation at past and current rates will continue into the foreseeable further.
What Council missed was the acknowledgement taxes are too high, increases are not sustainable and, the opportunity to communicate a change in direction about municipal taxation.
Sadly, none of those strategic objectives were announced and instead what transpired from the long budget process deliberations were further tax increases in general rates as well as a new infrastructure tax as the cherry on the top.
I’m concerned the direction council has taken missed an opportunity to officially recognize taxation spending is out of control. Not only is the budgeted increase higher than the rate of inflation, it’s adding to the inflation we all feel.
Whoever had the idea to state current and past increases were less than inflation needs to take a Grade 8 math class.
That statement is blatantly wrong, it's political spin, and it has no place in financial discussions. It’s misleading and makes no sense other than being a self-serving political statement.
To quote a friend, “How financially inept do they think the taxpayers are if they think they can present this increase as lower than inflation if our total property tax bill is used as the denominator to do the calculation?”
A final point. The average household increase this year as stated by the city is $111. If we see increases of five per cent in each of the next five years that same amount will have increased to $141 due to compounding.
Gerald Riley
Cambridge
