TAX INCREASE -

SHOULD WE EXPECT A DECREASE IN FOOD BANK USE?

Why should the Town of Gravenhurst be overly concerned with the present conditions in Libya? Food prices on the rise? Gas? Increases in hydro? Water rate hikes?

Why should the Town of Gravenhurst councillors lose sleep about the steady need for a local food bank to serve their constituents?

Did they really need a new town hall?

Did I read correctly that the BIA is increasing its levy, because it’s the cost of doing business? Seems contradictory but then......

And did I read correctly that the same BIA is worried about maintaining the businesses they have, on the main street, due to prevailing economic circumstances?

Is the town prepared for the considerable new maintenance and operating costs for the new recreation centre, as Bracebridge faced when they opened their newest pool / school / theatre complex? Might be a good idea to meet with their friends in Bracebridge, to get the heads-up before the invoices start flooding in to town hall.

The problem here, as with everyone else on the planet, we have no choice but to fully appreciate and absorb what is going on in Libya as a “new normal.” It does and will impact us for some time to come. As fuel prices increase, and no quick fix appears likely, the ability to pay more is a diminishing reality. Our town isn’t facing “just” a run of-the-mill economic crisis....it’s in the middle and up to its ears, mired in a deep quagmire of their own creation. The town could not afford a new town hall. It could not afford to increase the fire hall space at this time. The pool, while a terrific idea, and a good long term investment, came at an inappropriate time. We couldn’t afford it. I come from a vintage that believed in that sort of thing. And considering that we’ve done without for quite a few years, I think we could have managed a few more years......despite what came from the government, we still couldn’t afford it. We’ve added a pool to an old arena. This will come back to haunt the town. I’m pretty sure the arena alone, needed a substantial makeover, above and beyond spending money on a town pool. I like the pool, and will contribute through our tax bill. But my suggestion is that we get prepared for more bad news; a full appreciation that by this time next year, we will be reading this all again, especially finding unexpected and high operating costs for the new facility.....that we really couldn’t afford but went ahead with regardless. The money from the feds seemed so attractive! Temptations usually are.....but wisdom often prevails that it’s better to opt out, than be burdened by what appeared a really good opportunity......but cost too much to attain.

High gas prices and a high Canadian dollar are not tourist-friendly. We could be looking at a serious downturn here in Muskoka, and that’s the result of a dictator in a far off land. With an 8.9 percent increase in taxes, plus the other rising costs of living, we can expect increasing demand for food bank services. Have any of the town councillors.....and I mean any of them......just one, offered to sit down as a liaison with the Captain of the Salvation Army, to discuss some of the stresses they are facing? For those on fixed incomes, who own property, it is all being complicated by the outrageous re-assessments of real estate in this town....... creating a precarious threat to many of our most vulnerable citizens.....who may in short order, be faced with having to sell their homes or do without food. With the strict provincial social welfare requirements, as they are presently crafted, in order to get assistance, many senior homeowners particularly, are going to face a sad future reality. Food bank? Selling off their security? Do town councillors care about this, now that we’re four years from an election? If they do, then they should start adjusting to the social / economic realities of this town......from the households out, instead of the other way around......that might discourage statements like, “I think they’re doing okay!” “They’ll get by! That’s the way it is.” “We can’t do anything about it.”

When businesses fail and the desire to locate in Gravenhurst seems a tad tepid, has it ever once been the case, a councillor has looked in the mirror and thought to themselves; “is it possible I contributed to this situation.” Yea right? Well, I suggest that it may be time to look in the mirror, and not just for grooming......because the burden being passed on, is an encumbrance that will forge yet another link in a ponderous length of chain, already being pulled along by the average schmoo in this great land. As Charles Dickens pointed out in a Christmas Carol.....and one that should be duly considered by those who assess taxes, “mankind is our business.” Their welfare is our business. And that’s why councillors need to trundle themselves out on a fact finding mission, to see how local families are faring......and how the food bank is trying, against greats odds, to help feed our fellow hometowners. At present, the disconnect is troubling. Now think about how difficult it will be, with rising food and fuel costs, to keep those food bank shelves full. This is the double-edged sword.

Trying to sell an 8.9 percent tax increase will prove interesting, and most certainly provide an early, rigorous test for the rookie mayor, especially explaining how the new recreation centre has increased town costs, to cottage owners already paying a king’s ransom to enjoy lakefront. Keeping in mind of course, that without cottage owners contributing to the pool of town cash....now then, we’d really be screwed. I would hate to be the council representative who has to present and justify tax updates to the cottage associations this summer......especially having to tell them.....like the BTO tune, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”

As modern day homesteaders, our family has always lived frugally and within our means. We are students of pioneer life and have taken seriously the stories from our family, how they survived the Great Depression, and helped feed many from their neighborhoods at the same time. We will continue to help raise funds for the local food bank, as we have in the past. We hope you will join us this year. I have been running a monthly column, since December, (to run for a year) in a publication known as “Curious; The Tourist Guide,” (you can find it online), regarding the kind and dedicated charitable work of Salvation Army missionary, Ada Florence Kinton, who worked the streets of Toronto in the late 1800's, helping to provide the sick and destitute with food and shelter. She is buried in a tiny cemetery in Huntsville, Ontario. The biography, running over 12 issues, is dedicated to the Gravenhurst Salvation Army Food Bank, and the wonderful folks who volunteer to keep it up and running. Back columns can be found on this blog-site.

Getting news of a tax increase of this magnitude, while disappointing, is what we expect for a town that has over-spent in the past. As we love the town, and have no plans to re-locate, we will trundle on and cut back where necessary. We know where Libya is, and we know the crisis will escalate. As much as we are glad we live away from the real fighting, we do very much understand their passion to remove a dictator. But their respective liberation requires adjustments on our part. As the Middle East crisis continues, my hunch is, we will all have to adapt to new economic stresses we haven’t even thought of, and become more frugal by necessity.

The potential for crisis, in many areas of the economy, should keep us familiar with the word and condition we know as “recession.” We can’t possibly avoid an even worse recession, if spending slows during this supposed recovery period. And while inflation statistics might reflect differently, reality trumps what seems little more than propaganda. You can’t have these sharp escalations in daily living and work costs, as we are seeing, and it not be inflationary to the average Canadian household. Wages are not increasing enough to cover these hikes. Household debt is at a staggering level. So forgive me for my unenthusiastic look at this year’s budget.

If in good economic times we need a food bank......is it time to adjust to a permanent reality that we can’t do without a food bank?

Will the Salvation Army stay in our town forever? Have we ever asked them this question? Maybe we should!