The Mumpsimus Blog

Arbitrary decisions have no place at council

11 January 2011

Posted by Ian Chadwick in Election 2010, Collingwood's municipal m...

It wasn't about the food. It was about the process. And that process was wrong.

That was my first argument, Monday night, when a motion was read to end our pre-meeting meals. That motion read, "THAT Council herein authorize discontinuing the provision of meals prior to meetings of Council for Council and staff that attend, in an effort...

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Tags: Collingwood's Municipal Madness, mayor, council, budget 12 Comments

User fees approval deferred

22 December 2010

Posted by Ian Chadwick in Social values, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m...

Big topic on the agenda last Monday: the proposed 2011 schedule of user fees. These are the fees charged by the town for all sorts of services not covered by your taxes, from dog licences to photocopies. The list is 40 pages long. Council got it in the agenda, Friday night, and was expected to pass it, Monday night - and pass it without a full...

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Tags: Collingwood's Municipal Madness, user fees, budget 0 Comments

A modest tax hike in 2010

08 June 2010

Posted by Ian Chadwick in Admiral Collingwood development, Collingwood life, Collingwood's municipal m...

The good news is that Collingwood residents face only a very modest tax increase in 2010: 0.0030% according to a sheet provided by the treasurer, Monday night. On a house assessed at $200,000 that translates to a $0.08 increase over 2009's taxes. Whew. That's a bullet dodged for most of us.

The bad news is that it's not...

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Tags: Collingwood's Municipal Madness, taxes, budget, spending, assessment 1 Comments

More wasted tax dollars

01 April 2010

Posted by Ian Chadwick in Collingwood's municipal m...

Back in December, Councillors Jeffrey and McNabb took offence at the mayor ruling in a procedural matter in the patio discussion. I wrote about it in a blog piece back then, noting:
[quote]The discussion spun its wheels in...

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Tags: Collingwood Municipal Madness, budget, tax dollars, waste, lawyers, legal fees 0 Comments

A rushed budget?

08 March 2010

Posted by Ian Chadwick

[indent]The vote on the 2010 budget comes up tonight (March 8). While it's long overdue (it should have been presented in late 2009), I'm concerned that two of its foremost critics - Councillors Edwards and Foley - are both away from the table tonight.

I realize that, because of jobs, personal demands and other...

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Tags: budget, Collingwood, municipal madness, council 2 Comments

Budget points to ponder

03 February 2010

Posted by Ian Chadwick

[indent]Collingwood's budget process changed in 2010 after a recommendation from staff who found the budget committee the mayor had created arbitrarily at the start of his term to be cumbersome. The fragmented presentation of the budget at regular evening council meetings that resulted from his change was...

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