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WWW:WNW313 O O O , O O C I Controversial Citizens Budget Task Force legacy Still- npefor dwcusswn Btu-rum W “~ should not be viewed a a one-off, ChmnicleSrafl mannitemtobemerelychecked olfallst ore than a year after the Instead, council should use this M group disbanded, the opportunity to create an ongoing. work of the defunct Citi- continuous process of open dia- zens’ Budget Task Force is far from logue between citizen aperts and over. council to best represent the needs The group of 12 citizens. which , oftllpuyers included engineers, financial 'Moreneedstobeflmetomiti- , experts and professors, spent gate the risk on today's taxpayer almost a year hearing from the . arrdfimnegeneratiorm'hesaid. 'lf . city's department heads while try» this means smaller more special- ing to get a grasp of the inner . land (and) focused groups, 1 am in workings of city hall. Wt with that" ~â€" Formed in the spring of 2011 Halloran and Scian said the city and given the task of helping coun- was taking its responsibility to tax- cil develop its 2012-14 budget and payers seriously. The mayor noted increase public engagement with the fact that Waterloo has raised its the budgetary process. the group‘s taxes just 5.8 per cent from 2011 to mandate ended when Mayor Brenâ€" 2013. the smallest increase in the da Halloran thanked them for their Iii-Cities. service in her annual State of the r: , " g Kitchener has raised taxes by City address last March. ’5‘“ -maa. . W , . A . 12.9 per cent over that time frame. But its final report. where the The Otizens‘ Budget Task Force has left some questions to be answered at Waterloo City Hall despitobelng Cambridge raised taxes nine per task force made 22 recommendaâ€" disbanded a year ago, WWW“) cent and regional taxes increased tions in seven different categories 6.9 percent for the city to improve â€" ranging the job done. addressing the suggestions of the task force's final report. Scion also highlighted the from financial transparency to Moore said the city should task force. Ofthe 22 recommenda- The mayor agreed the mandate roundtable discussion the city held employee compensation â€" con- investigate the possibility of form. tions on the list, the city has com- of the group was likely too broad to last fall to discuss employee pen- tinues to stir controversy. ing smaller citizen groups to help pleted a little more than half in the bean with. but said it was the first sierra benefits through the Ontario The relationship between the tackle each of the unfinished rec- pastyear. time the city had attempted any« Municipal Employees Retirement cityand the task force was a tumul- ommendations individually. Yet the tasks that remain unfin- thing like it. “it was new and had System. .- tuous one and one former member She said looking into ways the ished represent some heavy lifting never been done before,” she said. Representatives from OMERS, of the group says‘it was destined to city could chip away at its infra- â€" including a review of worker “it’s such a massive puzzle and FairParsions ForAll and theCana- fail from the start structure deficit, which currently compensation, investigating alter- such a broad scope and an intense dhn Union of Public Employees all “Do 1 drink that we did our job? sits at about $250 million, should natives to MP1 and developing a commitment.” added (bun. Karen spoke about the often-controver- No,” said Janice Moore. a retired be a top priority moving forward. long-term strategic plan for the Scian, chair of the city’s finance sial funding formula of defined “ ' chartered accountant. “I think, Waterloo should also address con- Waterloo Public library. committee. benefit plans and the potential for unfortunately from the beginning. cerns around its Municipal Price A complete list of what has and "There is probably a better way unfunded liabilities. the task force never had enough Index. which the city uses to meas- has not been completed on the to do it.” The task force has changed the focus to really narrow in and do me the average increase in the report card is available online. The budget task force will not way the city approaches its something in the short timeframe price of goods and services it httpzllwww.waterloo.ca/en/gover be making a return to the council finances byadding another layer of wehad. purchases over the course of the nment/reportcard.asp chambers before the current term scnttiny at the public level and by “The monumental task of going year. Mayor Brenda Halloran said of council ends next year, Halloran improving communications over the finances of the city was MP1 is one of the tools the city council is taking the list very seri- and Scian said. The decision to between the city and the public. just way too huge.” uses to guide the city's tax rate ously and the city has assigned a revive the group and put in place Sciansaid. Despite the group’s shortcomâ€" increase per year. Moore said the stallr member to each outstanding some of the lessons learned the Magreehan said there is still ings. Moore said she was happy city should be rebuilding its budget item. with a final report expected first time around will morework to be done. with the final recommendations from scratch everyfour years. by the end of2014 â€" the end ofthe ultimately fall on the next group of “We believe a lot more can easi~ the group made to council. but The latest budget report card current term of council. councillors 1y be done to reduce the burden on laments the fact the focus was too was released last month and it “It will be done,” said Halloran Former task force chair Mike the Iota] taxpayer." he said. “It is a broad and too vague to really get shows the city's progress on of the unfinished items left in the Magreehan wanted the task orce questionofwill.” /H “"H*H‘_W ,â€" _, " ‘fiW' ' \ / YOUR roe AWARD WINNONC SPA _ ‘1 7 if “' ‘ ‘ I ‘1 - .1. ,.» I V _. in Jim snow-ll In “ mason» I «unseen I I. “MSW“: . c . .