I’ve written extensively over the last year about this new facility.
Other than select current and previous Councillors who have consistently supported my calls to tell the emperor he has no clothes, I’ve been standing quite alone, hollering in my disgust at how our current and future tax dollars will be appropriated to pay for this excess.
The other shoe is about to drop on us taxpayers. It’s not the fault of our new Council; it’s indeed a legacy of our previous Council majority’s vain indulgences.
The debt burden that we taxpayers will have to bear is the legacy of this facility. Think about that when you get your final tax notices this Spring.
We wanted better roads; reasonable taxes; attractive and responsible growth in our villages; and most of all (in the case of King’s next major recreation facility) we wanted what we asked for in the Parks & Rec. Master Plan: a true multi-use facility, reasonably central for most King residents to access, and preferably with an indoor pool.
I will make no apologies to the current two surviving Councillors who voted for this financial behemoth; I didn’t ask for this, and neither did most King taxpayers.
This pie chart is from the Township 2011 Draft Capital budget. See that nice 1/4 pie slice on the right? That’s your new “Trisan Centre” eating up 25% of the capital budget, something that was supposed to “pay for itself” as I described in some detail in a related post.
Nearly the full Township portion of the $4.7 million will be borne by us all, (now nearly $5.3 million, presumably as a result of change orders – basically upgrades as the project went along). That’s more than what our roads will receive, and our current Council has no alternative but to debenture all or most of this debt, for to impose it on us in this tax year would equate to about a 25% tax increase alone.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the facility will add an additional 1.5% to our taxes via the Operating Budget: requested program changes to cover new staffing expenses add $210,500 annually to this side of the budget.
“Yikes” indeed. No doubt our new Council has been working very hard trying to find a pathway out of this inherited mess.
Our previous Council majority allowed our reserves to run down to fund lower tax increases in previous years. The cupboard is empty folks, and here we are. All for a facility we were told would pay for itself.
Firstly, very nice blog! We’re moving to King city soon, and it’s very useful to be able to learn about the ‘Trisan center’ among other things. What you have written above confirms my suspicions that we’ll have to be making extensive use of the facilities in Vaughan. I guess even if the ‘Trisan center’ were really multi-use Vaughan would be closer!
Thanks for keeping after this, and showing the information as recorded by the Township in its own materials. It’s one thing to be told this stuff; it’s another to see it in print.
Councillor Cober should feel he has a lot to answer for; but he doesn’t.
Hopefully this Council will make better choices.
Jeff L.