June 24, 2010

Property taxes and user fees are the foundation of local government. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the Mayor to set clear priorities and to show the necessary leadership to ensure that these priorities are met. It is the Mayor’s job to understand what is most important to the public and put forward a Budget to Council that reflects these priorities.

As mayor, Jim Watson commits to predictable and stable taxes and fiscal restraint. This commitment will be realized by capping tax increases at 2.5% in any given year. In comparison, the current council passed tax increases over the last three years of 4.9%, 4.9% and 3.8%, for an average of 4.5% over the past 3 years.

Jim Watson is committing to a 2.5% tax increase – a responsible commitment that is affordable, predictable and protects our City’s valuable public services.

Ensuring a predictable path for taxes will require making and sticking to some tough choices. It will require collaboration with and buy-in from managers and from council. A commitment to zero taxes simply is not practical without seriously damaging the services that we all rely. On the other hand, a refusal to commit to fighting needless tax increases is equally irresponsible. Watson commits to a middle path of prudent, predictable taxes.

As part of his commitment to deliver on the 2.5% target Watson will not:

• Cost the City money by recklessly breaking existing contracts, for example, cancelling the light rail project which cost the City $100m. – that’s $285 for each and every Ottawa household.

• Try to sneak tax increases in through the back door by increasing user fees well beyond the rate of inflation for important city services. In his first year in office he will undertake a thorough review of all user fees that are paid in the city and set out a reasonable, predictable track for those fees for the next five years.

• Make snap decisions to undertake major purchases – such as the recent purchase of 226 new buses – simply because things are “on sale”. It is important to take the time to prudently and thoroughly examine all new major purchases.

• Enter into new building projects without understanding their actual cost and properly monitoring any change orders. For example, the new Bus Garage dubbed the “GarageMahal” that has ballooned from its initial $51m estimate to a price over $97m.

Watson will start by:

• Being active in the City’s financial planning and pushing for change on a day-to-day basis;

• Working with staff to address the absentee problem at the City and set a goal of reducing it by at least 10%, saving the City at least $2.7m a year;

• Working with staff to better manage overtime. The Auditor General has identified this as a significant cost-saving opportunity;

• Working with Council to restrict the delegated authority of committees to take decisions with significant budget impacts without the prior approval of Council. Under the current system, every year decisions get made under this delegated authority that creates massive budget pressure;

• Convening a quarterly meeting of the Audit Budget and Finance Committee to track progress on all Auditor General money-saving recommendations;

• Conduct a city-wide review of external consulting services, with a view to reducing the City’s dependency on external consultants and finding taxpayer savings of $5 million each year for the next four years;

• Make strategic capital investments in new technology to reduce travel and other administrative costs, such as video-conferencing between City of Ottawa facilities.

Website link created to encourage residents and employees to share ideas

No one person has all the answers. That is why Watson believes that leadership needs to start with being open to new ideas. To that end, he has created a new section on his website called “SaveMeMoney” that invites residents and City staff to send in suggestions on ways that the City can intelligently reduce costs and improve efficiency. That initiative will continue past Election Day and throughout the four year term of Council.

To make a “SaveMeMoney” suggestion, visit www.jimwatson.ca