Bureaucrat Wages Increased by 38 per cent since 2001

Has your personal income increased by 38 per cent in 11 years?
Probably not.
Mine certainly hasn't.

Municipal wages exceeded increases in the cost of living by a whopping 15 per cent in that period, according to a report by Jordan Bateman of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation.

"Labour costs are the number one cause pushing municipal property taxes out of control," states B.C. Director Bateman.

Municipalities are also overpaying the provincial government for "technical expertise".

Jordan Bateman will be speaking in Kelowna on October 7th at 7:30 p.m. at the Century 21 Meeting Room located at 251 Harvey Avenue.

"The meeting is sponsored by a group wanting to freeze property taxes in Kelowna.  While the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation is non-partisan and does not endorse specific candidates in any election, we do make ourselves available to speak at events like these to spread our message of lower taxes, less waste and more government accountability.  And, put simply, you cannot freeze taxes without controlling a city's top cost driver:  labour", states the release.



"Municipalities pay more than their share:  study"


Mayors and Councillors will be quick to remind residents that Victoria has downloaded a lot of costs onto cities and municipalities, which is true.    A September 19th, 2014 heading in The Province caught my eye with the heading:  "Municipalities pay more than their share:  study"

The article continues:  Munis are paying more than fair share of policing, housing, waste and water-treatment costs as the federal and provincial governments funnel the financial burden downward, says a report released Thursday. 

The report, from the Vancouver-based Columbia Institute, is titled Who's Picking Up The Tab -- Federal and Provincial Downloads onto Local Governments.

It concluded that local governments have shouldered about $4 billion in reduced federal and provincial transfer payments.

The release of the report comes just days before B.C.'s municipal politicians gather in Whistler for the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention.  Premier Christy Clark is scheduled to address delegates September 26th. 

"In spite of limited means, local governments are picking up more and more services and more and more of the tab," the 44-page report said.  Local governments are finding themselves picking up the slack on housing, mental health, addiction, social services, waste water treatment, diking, flood management, water and recreation infrastructure."

Columbia Institute stated that municipal governments rely on two methods to raise money:  property taxes and user fees, and they aren't permitted to run deficits.  But from 2001 to 2010, sewever-service costs grew 173 per cent, police costs increased 134 per cent, waste water services went up 130 per cent, and park recreation and culture services costs grew 108 per cent. 

"Wow...add those monumental cost changes to the wage increases of bureaucrats (and consultants) and it's no wonder we residents can't afford all this stuff any longer," says Kia.