Okotoks town council needs to sacrifice some costly projects in an effort to minimize the potential increase in property tax.
Council is currently debating its 2013 budget which currently includes a 4.2 per cent residential tax increase.
However, the draft budget tabled last week reveals some expensive projects which could and should be eliminated.
For example, the draft budget includes $273,000 for a new town sign and landscaping on Highway 2A, $70,000 to study a pedestrian bridge, $50,000 for a community garden, $27,000 to install statues currently in storage, $10,000 for new council chairs and $16,600 for flag poles on Martin Avenue.
These projects alone total almost $450,000. Eliminating these projects may have a minimal impact on a $47 million budget, but there are certainly higher priorities.
By eliminating these questionable expenses council could fund another RCMP officer ($137,000) to maintain the successful Crime Reduction Unit and a municipal enforcement officer ($71,000) and still have money left over.
Would Okotokians rather have a shiny new sign or safer streets? The answer should be easy for council.
Coun. Stephen Clark is right in lobbying council to take a more critical look at its draft budget and is a proponent of slashing some of the non-essential projects to keep the tax increase to a minimum.
However, some of these projects may not have been included in the draft budget if Clark would have argued against them at the budget and finance meetings.
Clark did not make those arguments because he chose not to attend the meetings and was absent from council on Nov. 12 as well.
Clark’s arguments would have more clout if he attended these critical discussions.
