Do you ever wish you could act like the city? If you could, when you wanted more money you would get it. You wouldn’t need to ask permission. You wouldn’t have to justify your need for it or explain what you did with the money you got the last time you asked. You could just say, I need more money and that would be enough.

Once again, we are witnessing the budget dance. Watching the city’s budget deliberations is like having a television show that only shows reruns.  Actually, it is worse than that; it is like having a television channel that only shows the same program over and over and over again.

If you think I am overstating the case, ask yourself when you ever heard the city talk about how it could save money and provide better service. I am not talking about its perennial threats of cutting transit services, access to swimming pools or cleaning the streets. I am talking about innovative ideas that would keep the city from having to raise taxes every year. If you can think of one, I would be glad to hear about it.

Right now about 60 per cent  of the city’s budget goes to salaries. Quick now, what were the salary increases for city employees in the last couple of years? Did anyone in the city take a zero increase because times were tough and they were happy to have job when many Edmontonians didn’t? Did the city put on a hiring freeze? The answer to those questions is a resounding no.

Right now, city workers are negotiating a new contract. What is the number that is on the table and how will it affect our taxes? I don’t want to see jobs cut for workers that actually do something like clean our roads and drive buses. But what about managerial personnel? Is every last one of them necessary?

Taxation in Edmonton is like death by a thousand cuts. The budget increase this year is projected at what is being positioned as a mere $77.

That is the same stance taken every time our taxes are increased. And what about the proposed $88 increase for things like garbage pickup? Having a separate utilities budget is fiscal sleight of hand that keeps the city from having to say it wants to increase taxes by $165. Tune in next year for yet another rerun of this show.