The Mayor and Council of the City of Thunder Bay grow ever more divorced from the needs and interests of the public they are supposed to serve with their behaviour sometimes reminiscent of 19th century Russian aristocrats. They pursue grand public schemes and profess concern for the public but are deaf to plights raised that diverge from their own views of what is best for the city. In this, they are aided and abetted by their administrators whose chief interest seems to be maximizing revenues and spending – at least in areas where they see fit.
The situation of ratepayers and homeowners in Thunder Bay often seems to be akin to the welfare of Russian peasants whose fate was the lot of the ‘unfortunates’ to whom ‘God is high above and the Tsar is far away.’ Just ask the homeowners whose pleas about the damages they are incurring to their property from pipes leaking are met with silence. Indeed, there may be a lot in common in the general attitudes of the Mayor and Council of Thunder Bay and the Czar and his assorted Grand Dukes given that Czar Nicholas II filled in his occupation during the 1897 Russian Census simply as “The Owner of the Russian Land.” I suppose the leaky pipe protestors last week should consider themselves blessed that the Mayor and Council did not summon mounted police to disperse them.
Nowhere is this autocratic arrogance more blatantly demonstrated than in the 2021 “Budget Survey” that Council is now asking input for on its website. It begins by asking for a line by line ranking of programs in terms of importance to you that include: Roads, Winter Maintenance, Drinking Water, Wastewater (Sewer), Stormwater Management, Garbage and Recycling, Long Term Care Services, Parks, Recreation Programs and Facilities, Child Care, Libraries, Economic Development, Communication and Resident Engagement, Animal Services, and By-Law Enforcement.
This is ceremonial accountability at its best as it allows for input on items so broadly defined that a ranking is meaningless. Honestly, are we being threatened with an end to clean drinking water or garbage collection or a shut-down of City long-term care facilities, if we refuse to hand over our taxes? Everyone knows that choices need to be made but there is a difference between explaining the options and implicit threats of service cuts that smack of bullying ratepayers.
However, the most striking question is the one that brings the impact of COVID-19 into the budgetary discussion. As the section reads:
“The financial impact of COVID-19, due to revenue losses and increased costs, has been estimated at over $8 million for 2021 (4.2% of the municipal taxes levy). City Administration will be presenting City Council with options to address these costs. To cover these increased costs, what option(s) would you support?
a. Temporarily reduce/modify services in 2021
b. Temporarily increase user fees in areas that have increased costs due to COVID-19
c. Increase taxes in 2021
d. Draw from the reserve fund that is set aside for emergencies and budget to replenish in future years.”
Take careful note of the nuances here. First, the financial impact of COVID-19 for 2021 is set at $8 million but nowhere is there mention of the nearly $9 million dollars that has been received in pandemic aid to date from higher levels of government that has apparently resulted in a $1 million operating surplus for 2020.
Second, the mention of these costs as 4.2 percent of the municipal tax levy is a hint that what the City probably really wants is a 4.2 percent tax increase. This is an increase in spending on the 2020 tax levy of $199.4 of an additional $8.4 million and assumes there will be no additional assistance or support from the provincial or federal government in 2021. Given that they did not have to draw down on emergency reserves for 2020, doing it in 2021 is a legitimate option that should be given greater weight.
In light of the twin pandemics of both COVID-19 and leaky pipes that have hit the homeowners and taxpayers of Thunder Bay, The City of Thunder Bay needs to limit its tax levy increase this year to no more than 2 percent as mentioned earlier this year. Instead of bullying taxpayers by implicit threats to reduce their garbage collection or snow removal if they don’t get their 4.2 percent, they should look at making core services like roads, water, sewer, sanitation a priority while reducing their emphasis on other things or by looking for ways to do them more efficiently. As to how to do it, it is indeed up to the administrators to provide the options and for the councilors to choose among the options - that is what they are being paid for.
And as a final point, they do need to provide affected homeowners some assistance with respect to the leaky pipe pandemic. Without commenting on the situation or compromising their “legal position” they could in recognition of the economic and mental burden of the pandemic temporarily suspend the hundreds of dollars in fees they charge homeowners to turn off and turn on the water when faced with ruptured pipes. Continuing to do so means they are treating the misfortune of the leaky pipe situation as simply an opportunistic source of municipal revenue.
