Fiscal plans for Lethbridge?

Suppose I wanted to win the hearts and minds of Lethbridge voters (all 14,896 at last count), my opening volley might be "Read my lips: No new taxes!". I might strongly imply that we need to be fiscally responsible in terms of spending on capital projects. Not cheap, but frugal. I might say we have to get our priorities straight. We shouldn't have to pay extra taxes just for a , we should just lobby harder to the provincial and federal governments for more funding.

But wait?!? If the provincial government funded more projects for all communities, our provincial taxes might need to go up. If the federal government funded more projects for all communities, our federal taxes might need to go up. Whether I pay it to the city, the province, or the Receiver General for Canada it is STILL my tax dollars. The real difference (and the reality) is that local tax dollars stick around for local projects. Provincial tax dollars may end up in Leduc, Legal, and Lloydminster but not in Lethbridge. Similarly with federal tax dollars.

Project funding is a bit of a red herring anyway. We either save up a little over time until we can afford it (the basic way Lethbridge does it now) or we borrow money and pay it back with interest over time (also a sound financial tool; anyone else have a mortgage?) Doesn't necessarily mean as much because in essence it is a one-time expense.

But we can pay more taxes at other levels and maybe get that back if some other level of government needs to win votes instead of effectively and fairly serving the needs of our community with well spent local tax dollars.

Do the 2010 candidates have some actual solutions or plans or ideas for guiding our community? Or are they throwing up the smoke-screen of we shouldn't raise civic taxes if we could get it elsewhere? Go to a forum. Ask good questions. Demand good answers.

And VOTE!

Stephen