CORNWALL Ontario – A simple first paragraph of a news story has set off a fire storm of controversy between South Stormont Mayor Jim Bancroft and his council and the Standard Freeholder.
The township had actually cut taxes for the last year and term under former Mayor Bryan McGillis as the township tried to alleviate MPAC raises to property values. He spoke with CFN Wednesday afternoon via telephone from his home in Bonville.
Mayor Bancroft issued a statement at Township Council Wednesday night and covered by Reg Coffey in the South Stormont News.
In his statement he claims the story in the Standard Freeholder is not completely accurate. Mayor Bancroft said that the 12 % increase statement did not come from his mouth and it is not on any written document.
Hugo Rodrigues, emailed a response to CFN this morning where he made his position clear regarding the Freeholder story.
The revenue from property taxes is going up 12.2% according to the Feb. 11 draft of the budget posted on the township’s website. The overall budget — all spending with all revenues — is actually posed to go up more than 17%. Go ahead, do the math for yourself. Any suggestion those numbers are fabricated is absurd and desperate political move to try and explain away the increased spending included in this draft budget.
http://www.southstormont.ca/_
Earlier this year, we committed that in our budget reporting, those numbers are the ones we would report.
Reporting on any impact to an individual’s tax bill is a guessing game until the big number is finalized. To calculate any tax bill, a municipality needs to know how much money it needs to collect from all ratepayers in total to meet the expenses in the budget. Once it knows that and the total assessment, then it can calculate tax rates for each property class.
But even with the tax rates set, if your property’s assessment is increasing, it’s that new assessed value that will be multiplied by the tax rate to generate your bill. So if my property is worth $199,000 for this tax year, it’s a $57.39 increase? Well, if my assessment is on the increase — say because my property was worth $195,000 last year — then I’m going to be paying more than a $57.39 increase when I compare my final 2015 tax bill to my final 2014 tax bill.
Average values aren’t accurate. They’re averages. Reporting on them and sharing them as though they were an accurate depiction of what the change on any one property tax bill will be is misleading. People see the “average” increase and they stop there. Then they get their actual tax bill — with a different number almost every time — and get angry. There was nothing in our story — nothing — suggesting tax bills or taxes for the average home were going up 12.2%. Any suggestion otherwise is also absurd.
What’s not misleading is reporting on how much more money the budget proposes to spend. That’s what we’ve done. In a political environment in Cornwall and SDG where the Community Action Group made an issue out of comparing the taxes people pay here versus there without any useful context and where six of 11 in Cornwall pledged to “roll back”
And finally, if South Stormont council members have concerns with the Standard-Freeholder’s reporting, they’re always welcome to contact me directly to address those concerns. None have done so when it comes to this article.
Managing editor, digital and print
Standard-Freeholder
Cornwall, Ont.
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And people say Cornwall is strange.
How can South Stormont justify a 12.2% increase in property taxes?
We have to pay for the new administration offices, for the privilege of having a Tim Hortons in town, for keeping the integrity commissioner’s fund up to date, for…
Pro 14:34 “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people”.
Yesterday and the day before I sat here laughing about Cornwall and South Stormont. I said to myself about the jerks who left Cornwall because of the taxes (their excuse) and what are they going to do if they are billed 10% or more in taxes. The same thing with Cornwall you cannot escape the taxes and this year we have a great deal of snow to shovel, those city offices to heat and light, and the list just keeps on growing every year. There is no escape at all no matter where you live unless you live in tax free countries. There is no way to get away with zero tax increases and when you miss paying taxes in a year it only doubles in the following year – some idiotic brains that run things and cannot figure things out including the stupid sheeple who believe in everything a politician says. Gee what’s next.
Jules, Jules, Jules….I didn’t know you were an accountant or a politician.
Surprise, surprise, surprise what Jules can do most people are not aware of. You see Hugger people take me as something as a joke something to laugh at but in reality I am far from a joker and I mean every single word that I say. If I was a PM believe me I would be so mighty tough on all the people that I would make Mike Harris seem like a saint or a gentle pussycat and well loved by all.
But you aren’t PM or Premier. We have enough of Stephen Harper trying to hide new laws in omnibus bills. And enough of him trying to stifle Canadians rights and freedoms calling it “security.”
It all boils down to sin. Get rid of the sin, and all these problems will go away.
Furtz….you’re starting to sound like PTN.
Hugger I told you that I am a staunch conservative kind of hard line in a way and I want tough laws. I said this many times before that if Harpoon Harpo changes the laws to be mighty strict then I will go to the poles to vote – yes you all read me right. If these laws and other strict laws go through I will vote Harpoon Harpo back in and it will be my first time voting for him. I will never vote for Justine at all whatsoever. I want someone who is tough in and at the same time on the religious right. I give you all my word and that is exactly what I am going to do.
There are tough laws and then laws that are just plain stupid. Trying to take away basic Canadian rights is NOT the way to go.
Jules, I cannot see anyone wasting their vote on Justine Trudeau,who has never even had a full-time job & only a part-time drama teacher, he has never finished ant higher learning that he started.Every time they (Butts) leave him off his leash, he manages to put his foot in his mouth. I watched a reporter interview J T & he asked him “if elected, what will you do as PM” He had no answer for 17 sec & just looked like a deer in the headlights
Should you be so brutally honest Mary Bray? The unenlightened will withdraw their heads from the sand momentarily and say it is not so, that your information came from a biased source and that the camera angle was all wrong and portrayed the poor boy inaccurately. Wasn’t his dad somebody? Isn’t that intelligent reason to back the boy?
Think what you want about Trudeau, but he’s going to be our next PM. No amount of cheating and dirty tricks is going to save Harper’s skin this time around.
I agree with Furtz…Justin Trudeau will be Canada’s next PM after the next federal election. Harper has dug himself such a big hole he won’t be able to dig himself and his party out of it. That is if Harper survives to the next election. I think he’ll put his tail between his legs and run for the hills letting some poor sap take the blame for the election loss.
The people of south Stormont shouldn’t be surprised. They elected someone who was “Charged” in the past for fraud, now they re-elect him, and there angry about a tax increase? I don’t want to see how unstable the township is going to be after the end of his term.
David, are suggesting that only unenlightened people don’t support the Harper Cons?
edit, Are you suggesting…
I made up my mind and if Harpoon Harpo calls for an election whether this spring or whenever he will have my vote – yes your Jules is going to the poles without a doubt. In order to be PM you have to be educated and of sound mind and Justine Trudope is not educated nor is he of sound mind. I do not take drugs of any sort and it is hard for me to take as much as an aspirin when I have a headache or whatever and it has to be bad enough for me to reach for that but never to take drugs of any sort. I want to see mighty tough laws like the US and my husband’s country where you are thrown into a third world like prison and whipped for taking or dealing drugs.
Tough laws are needed. But trying to take away basic Canadian rights is NOT the way to go. Harper has gone too far and must be stopped.
Hugger, Harper is gonna play the fear card over and over in this election campaign. It’s the only card he has left to play, and it won’t be enough. He and his party have driven over the cliff.
Harpoon Harper can play the fear card all he wants. As a Canadian I have had enough of him and his attacks on basic rights. Having a control freak as a PM is not good.
I found this info on control freaks:
Rather than tackle their own irrational thinking and massage it into more realistic thinking, they attempt to control the situation, usually by trying to control other people.
Here are eight signs for your self-diagnosing pleasure.
– You believe that if someone would change one or two things about themselves, you’d be happier. So you try to “help them” change this behavior by pointing it out, usually over and over.
– You micromanage others to make them fit your (often unrealistic) expectations. You don’t believe in imperfection and you don’t think anyone else should either.
– You judge others’ behavior as right or wrong and passive-aggressively withhold attention until they fall in line with your expectations. Sitting in silent judgment is a master form of control.
– You offer “constructive criticism” as a veiled attempt to advance your own agenda.
– You change who you are or what you believe so that someone will accept you. Instead of just being yourself, you attempt to incept others by managing their impression of you.
– You present worst-case scenarios in an attempt to influence someone away from certain behaviors and toward others. This is also called fear mongering.
– You have a hard time with ambiguity and being OK with not knowing something.
– You intervene on behalf of people by trying to explain or dismiss their behaviors to others.
Now if that doesn’t describe Stephen Harper I don’t know what does.
Hugger if you made all the investigations about what is going on in our mighty twisted world from past to present you would have your answers to why Harpoon Harpo and Obummer along with others have that twisted ideology. If you think that it is just these two freaks acting the way they do I guarantee you that they are not. You have heard of the NWO well guess what Hugger, Furtz and everyone – if these two monkeys did not dance to the tune of the NWO they would be put down like they did to JFK and other US presidents and other leaders. You have to know that it is the NWO freaks who have selected these chimps to be put in place to obey their orders and this is what it is all about including the wars from past to present. A great deal more is coming and I won’t go into it here but the only thing that any of us can do is pray for the leaders that they do the right thing. About Justine Trudope he would have Canada disappear in no time flat so do not put your hopes up in Justine. There are plenty of things that I do not like about Harpoon Harpo and Hugger you named them well but he is the only one qualified so far for the job as PM BUT no matter who gets in the answers will be the same they have to dance to the tune of their masters.
Sorry Jules your so called NWO will not be accepted by most. Harper has to go, pure and simple. he`s screwed this country up enough. Time to give someone else a chance to do that.
PM Harper is the only one that can win & hopefully another majority, Dumb & Dumber are both a danger to Canada
Trudeau is a puppet controlled by his Irani loving brother Sasha. He has a Islamic advisor (Muslim) to tell him what to say and direct him to pray at the closest mosque. He also has Gerald Butts who single handedly destroyed Ontario with the green energy no one can afford. He also has 2 Obama people working for him and tell him what to do and say. HE IS BEING CONTROLLED.
Mary, you forgot the part about Trudeau’s soul being taken over by Satan.
As someone posted earlier today on another site Trudeau is (trying to) distance himself from the train-wreck Ontario Liberals.
Harper is toast, he has done too much damage.
Harper is a true leader,JT might even lose opposition party & Furtz,while you were joking,you may not be too far from the truth.JT is toast,he has his mother,s good looks but also got her brains,fried as in toast
You nailed it Mary Justine’s brains are toast. He sure didn’t inherit anything of his father.
Mary, you are a true Conservative! Going after Margaret Trudeau, who has suffered with mental illness, including severe depression, is about as low as you can go. She has written books about her experience with the disease, and has dedicated a good part of her life trying to dispel the myths around mental illness, and encouraging sufferers to not feel ashamed and to seek help. I’ve heard her speak, and I’ve read some of her writings. Her brain is definitely not “fried as in toast”.
Carry on, Mary. Your are doing a great job promoting your party’s values.
Edit: You are doing….
Fact: the Parliament of Canada represents the Canadian people.
Fact: 2011 Mr. Harper and his government were found in contempt of Parliament; that is in contempt of the Canadian people.
Fact: 1649 (January 30th) King Charles I lost his head, literally. What for? For being in contempt of Parliament; that is of the English people.
What is it with Canadians who want to re-elect the man who holds them in contempt?
My parties values are to help mental illness not vote it into power
The Liberals have been walking us from one crime into another and getting away with it. They should have stepped down given that three OPP criminal investigations are currently underway for their gas plant, ORNGE and bribery scandals. The fact, that Wynne previously apologized profusely for the Liberal’s gas plant crime where they deliberately misappropriated 1.1 billion tax dollars for their own political gain only to then attempt to hide their crime by proroguing government and illegally shredding documents should have been grounds sufficient to, at least, get the Liberals out of office. Now that the public sector unions have given Wynne a majority government, she cares not that the Liberals continue to operate above the law and get away with it.”
Mary, please explain to us why the Libs are still in power. The Cons could have and should have easily won the last two elections. Why didn’t they?
For a minute PJ Robertson, I thought you meant Tom Citizen of France Mulcair. Surely you don’t want the death penalty back in Canada!
I do agree we should hold politicians to a higher standard than now, let’s try and convince the Toronto voters of that for Ontario provincial elections, just as a trial run.
Mary Bray, don’t take the bait question from Furtz, just keep reminding people of the Liberal boondoggles.
The power of Unions
Eric, try answering the question: What is it with Canadians who want to re-elect the man who holds them in contempt?
Yes, Eric, if it wasn’t for the dang voters, your man Hudak would be our premier. LOL ROLF ROLF..
Why does a spouse stay with an abusive spouse? Why do people pick red cars over black ones?
Perhaps like the fabulous liberal election machines we have seen over the years, we are told what to believe and just go along with that.
I suggest though, take your revelations and question to a layer and inquire about legal ways to satisfy yourself.
Furtz, voters make mistakes all the time, although Hudak was not the right person for the job at the time. Voters didn’t deserve Bob Rae or the current string of misspending provincial MPP’s, but they were put in. So yes, groups of voters are a problem.
It is great that people follow something and speak about it, but we can’t just gloss over misspending in provincial politics either.
The thing is, Eric, that the Cons didn’t want to win either of the last two elections. That’s the only reason I can think of for them choosing the repulsive “tea-party” Tim for a leader. I agree that the Libs should have been tossed out years ago, but the voters have to be presented with a credible alternative. Interesting to note that two (Brown and McNaughton) of the three people in the current party leadership race are hard-core tea-party social conservatives. If either of these bozos wins the leadership, which is unlikely, the Cons will be shut out for many more years to come.
It is a major travesty of justice that the proven inept Liberals continue to govern Ontario. Given that the Liberals are currently under very serious OPP criminal investigations for their gas plant, ORNGE and bribery scandals, if Wynne had a shred of moral integrity, she would have already stepped down. The fact, that Wynne previously apologized profusely for the Liberal’s gas plant crime where they deliberately misappropriated 1.1 billion tax dollars for their own political gain only to try to hide their crime by proroguing government and illegally shredding documents should have been grounds sufficient to put the Liberals behind bars. Now that the public sector unions have given Wynne a majority government, she cares not that the Liberals continue to operate above the law and get away with it.
Mary Wynne was the assistant collaborator of McGuinty with whom I call McGuilty and Wynne I call her Winnie – neither one are any good at all. As for the Cons I will tell you something Mary and folks everyone of the politicians are there for their own gain and not for we the people and it doesn’t matter who you put in they are all the same crap. I will go to the poles this time for Harpoon Harpo even though I don’t particularly care for him but a great deal better than Justine. Justine would literally destroy Canada.
Mary, how did you wind up in Kingston, a city mostly populated by evil unionists and left-leaning types?
Furtz, you are right, but I,m getting a few new converts:)
http://www.kingstonthisweek.com/2015/01/22/wynne-near-bottom-of-fraser-institute-fiscal-policy-ranking
Mary, reading the garbage produced by the Fraser Institute is kinda like reading a column by Esra Levant. Always totally predictable and always written from a hard-right perspective. They just keep grinding out the same old stuff that their financial backers pay them for.
Hugger1…what rights have you lost? I live in the same country under the same charter of rights and freedoms. To alter those rights and freedoms requires constitutional change. When was the constitution altered that changed our entrenched rights?
Mary Bray… no study is necessary to determine that Ontario is being crippled by the poorest leadership in its brief history. The results speak for themselves and are loudly heard by those that choose not to plant their heads firmly in the sand. At one time people cared more about one another. Now they are consumed with their own entitlements and apathy reigns supreme. Dark days are here indeed.