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75
comments on
4 pages
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Art Gallery
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Why would staff recommend that we pay the Art Gallery’s debt from the 2023 surplus? They should pay their own debt and how much was the 2023 surplus? They should give any surplus back to the taxpayer.
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Dean Marshall
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Mayor’s Abrasive Conduct
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I agree with Bobby Jones. The Mayor is starting to lose it. He is becoming very unfriendly. Maybe he has decided not to run again. At the same meeting he cut off Deputy Mayor Greig when he was speaking. Hope he resigns and turns it over to Scott Greig. Grieg is much more people friendly.
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Harry J
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City Hall is NOT Resident Friendly
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When did our city hall become such an uninviting place. I watch yesterday’s council meeting and couldn’t believe our mayor’s conduct. One resident wanted to make a few statements before asking his question and our very disrespectful mayor just kept cutting him off. He even said he would be less than 10 mins but our rude mayor didn’t care. Apparently you can only ask a question and are not allowed to put in context. No wonder no one comes to council to ask questions. What happened to that polite man at the all candidates meetings who I voted for. Perhaps after 12 years on council it’s time for Ian Boddy to resign.
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Bobby Jones
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I Checked the Numbers
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I downloaded your full report and spend time trying to fully understand what I was reading. Some things just seemed unbelievable. In particular the taxes and expenses comparisons. So I downloaded some of the financial statements and checked a few of the numbers for myself. I was actually able to duplicate some of the numbers. I was hoping that what I read was wrong. Unfortunately the numbers are correct at least the ones I checked. So the question I now have for the city council is how could you possibly have accepted the budget when you knew how bad we were doing when compared to other cities?
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Barb Graham
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Council Send Back the Budget
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Thank you for putting all the work in to this. I’m surprised that they accepted the draft budget especially after reading your report. I feel they really don’t understand what the majority of us are dealing with these days. I wasn’t really surprised to learn that we are the poorest community in Ontario. None of my family and friends earn the six figure salaries that we are paying our city managers.
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David
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Property taxes
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These taxes are killing me. I have to work 1 week to pay for for them. 25% of my income!! I do not have a big fancy house, but a 1500 sq foot home on south/east hill. Owen Sound sucks. Too many of the people working for this town are related. They spend their time padding their wallets with our taxes. Bring in fresh blood and new ideas.
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Helena
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The Facts are Disturbing
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This is really alarming to read these facts....our workforce is so out of line when compared with municipalities of similar size...I can see now why we are in the highest residential taxes in Ontario....this requires immediate action on behalf of OS taxpayers...⁶
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Ken Baker
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Proposed Tax Increase
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If taxes increase, I will be relocating my family out of the City of Owen Sound. This city does not offer many services to justify the rising taxes. With inflating costs, we cannot afford another increase as a family.
There’s no arena time for youth except one hour of public skating on Sundays unless you can afford to rent it for $195/hour, no indoor pool facilities other than the YMCA which is $12/p per day or a monthly membership, no composting services, garbage picked up every other week which smells by that time especially in summer. Take a look at other cities/municipalities that have youth working part time at their facilities. I do not see youth working in ours. Previous council brought up that city was over staffed. Imagine the services we could add if we reallocated some of these costs into our wants as residences. Do they even live in Owen Sound? We need to do better.
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Ash
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City Managers Live in a Different World
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I watched some of the budget meeting and was appalled at how little members of council pushed back on that slick presentation. City managers want more staff and want to spend more money again this year and they want us taxpayers to cover the cost of thei
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Helen Bronson
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Dear City Councillors
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It’s not business as usual. It’s very easy to say “yes” to an increase in city budgets for the next year, but I beseech you to say “no”.
You have been provided a very detailed road map in this report to at the very least stop any increase in expenditure.
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Grant McKinnon
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Art Gallery Budget is Too Large
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A most interesting dissertation on the City's tax burden. A personal observation on the art gallery from when I used to work before retiring. From 2003 to 2008 when I was a Canada Post mailman my route centered around the Library and art gallery, I was past the two facilities around the noon hour on my morning route and around 1 pm and 3:00 pm on the afternoon section. I observed maybe a half dozen people entering the gallery each year. Hardly a tourist attraction when you have those sort of numbers. At best this facility should be run by volunteers and no public funds. The City picks up the utility bills and property taxes so there is no need for public funds. Let the volunteers raise any further funds.
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JOHN PICKETT
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Afordability
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As a senior woman living alone, by choice, expenses are top of my concerns. My income is slightly under $22,000/yr. I own my home and car. I constantly update my home by saving up for things. Furthermore, I've never been on a trip. I cannot pay any more in taxes than now. I cannot imagine this little place having 73 people working with taxpayers paying over $100,000/yr. Somebody is laughing all the way to the bank. Please, people, do not ask me for donations to anything, and give me a dirty look when I say NO.
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Carol-Ann Lamothe
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Bought a House in Georgian Bluffs
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I just read Mr Hutton’s post on Facebook and read his articles here. I found the articles on taxes interesting. Last year I got a new job in Owen Sound and relocated to the area. We were looking to buy in Owen Sound until our realtor told us that we would be better off to buy in Georgian Bluffs because of the lower taxes and larger lots. I had assumed that the higher taxes were to get municipal water and sewer instead of well and septic. However after reading the articles on this website site I now know this was a result of mismanagement at city hall. Am I ever happy we bought in Georgian Bluffs. I’m saving $2,000 a year in taxes and it only takes me 10 minutes to get to work.
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Harry Robinson
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High taxes deterred us from buying in town
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Owen Sound is ridiculous for taxes. We moved from Cambridge but did not purchase a house in Owen Sound because of the taxes. They would have been around the same amount we were paying in Cambridge, but without everything that we were getting before. There are not a lot of parks. I haven't seen splash pads for kids (yes there is Kelso beach). There is all this beautiful wilderness but nothing like bike paths to attract towns folks or tourists! We went from being able to ride to multiple cities before to risking our lives if we want to go out. We moved out of town and I drive 30 mins to work as it is worth it. We have an all electric car household so it does not cost us much. We would have moved into town if it was more comparable to what we had before for the taxes that were being paid.
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Deanna M.
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High Taxes are Driving Me to Move
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Year after year I'm seeing tax increase after tax increase. Council knows Owen Sound has a serious problem with wildly growing taxes. Why are they not doing anything about it. They know our city hall has too many employees working in administration and not enough out delivering services, They see it but they don't do anything about it. It's time to cut back! It's time for members of council to listen to Owen Sound residents. We can't afford another tax increase. If they go ahead with their business as usual attitude and raise tax again I will be moving out of town. Likely moving to Georgian Bluffs.
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John Britten
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High Taxes Forced Us to Buy Outside the City
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Owen Sound is ridiculous for taxes. We moved from Cambridge but bought outside the city to live because of taxes. I work in Owen Sound, but it is worth the drive and savings to live outside of town until they get taxes under control. The services offered for the high taxes do not make any sense and people will not move there until things are under control .
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Dee Fry
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Why Do Councillors Ignore Us After Election
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Mr Hutton thank you for all of your work. It’s very concerning that members of council are choosing to ignore the your appeals for them to reduce the cost of running the city. Your comparison of Owen Sound with Collingwood is alarming. It’s hard to believe that they in spite of the facts you presented they still increased spending in this year’s budget. It seems that they only listen to us during election time. I also remember the promises made by all of the candidates last year that were quickly forgotten after the election. The mayor said he was going to look at the budget and have a budget committee but he seems have forgotten. I can’t wait to read your new report.
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Donna Couture
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The Art Gallery
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I can’t determine how many people visit, pay or donate to our art gallery.
Maybe someone can tell me.
With a budget and expenditure of close to $900k, let’s assume it’s 2k a year.
On a per person cost, I’m astounded at this cost. I do not want my tax dollar to subsidize patrons to this extent.
If I’m wrong, please correct me.
Maybe it’s time for
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Grant Mckinnon
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Promises Made – Promises Broken
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I clearly remember during the all candidates meetings almost all of the members of our current council speaking about the challenges facing all of us and promising to reduce costs at city hall. I recall Mayor Boddy promising to change things and as he’s been promising for the last 15 years to grow the tax base to take the pressure off of residents. I recall Deputy Mayor Greig speaking strongly about the need to reduce costs and promising to create a Budget Committee to stay on top of growing expenses.
It has been one year since the election. 25% of your 4 year mandate has come and gone and none of these promises have been put into action. It is hard to believe that we spent over $100,000 on a consultant study that did not tell us anything and now you have a resident study that cost you nothing. If anything like Mr. Hutton’s previous work it should open your eyes. I can’t wait to read it.
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Helen Buster
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