Budget Passed & Wanna Run for Politics?

At our regular council meeting last Wednesday evening the budget was passed. Overall my opinion on the budget is that it is well balanced in comparison to the past four years and should serve us well for the remainder of this year. It is a frustrating process to be at the end of May and be passing a budget for a year in which 5 months are exhausted. At the meeting it was the first time that I have requested a recorded vote. I voted against this budget for two main reasons: first, I don’t believe that your taxes should be increased any further for this year. Secondly, I don’t agree that council should be exceeding their budgets or increasing their travel budgets at this time. The passed budget has 1.5% increase to taxes for Capital Reserve and the Mayor and Deputy Mayor have both got increases in the travel portion of their budgets, $2500.00 and $2000.00, respectively. Travelling for council is an important aspect of our role as councillors but we also need to set the tone for the municipality and be accountable for our spending. Last year’s “Council Expenses”overage is the equivalent of 1% of the tax increase that you endured in 2016. During our meeting I clearly spoke all of this to council to make my convictions clear. The minutes will reflect the outcome and it was passed four votes to one. So moving forward I will do my utmost to ensure that this budget is adhered to. Now for some better news the 2017 Water and Sewer Rates were passed with a 0% increase.

Since being on council it has been a steep learning curve to get a handle on everything that the municipality has been up to and where the municipality is headed. To prepare potential candidates I have organized an information session for people that are interested in running for council. This event is a partnership with Women in Politics and PARO Centre geared to potential women candidates but I encourage anyone to attend. It will be held at the Hornepayne Action Centre on June 1 from noon to 1:30. There will be a soup and sandwiches provided for lunch. Women in Politics is a group of women that are passionate about helping and promoting women to serve on boards, councils and to become leaders. PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise is one of Canada’s most successful business support and networking organizations. ‘PARO’ is latin for ‘I am ready’.

Looking forward to see you.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Fort