Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "AMO
WAMS COMMUNICATION":
Your post is very confusing to me. At first I
thought that financial aid was maybe coming to the Town to cover that dumb
soft-ware fiasco. But it seems not as you list more costs to Aurora. It is weird
that no one understands or likes the program but all meekly continue to dole out
the money.
The one positive that I did get was that the Treasurer would no
longer be in charge of Human Resources. That was absurd in the first instance.
But, then, with the TEAM is place, I doubt if he ever was the one in
charge.
Sorry if I'm being slow here. Big numbers with nothing to put out for
everyone to understand and appreciate make me snarly.
***********
The first part of the post was an excerpt from a communication.
It illustrates the Province's recognition that many municipalities in Ontario do not have resources to undertake the transformation in the municipal accounting system the Province mandated. . The first part being inventory of all municipal assets.
We did it already on Excel Spread Sheets, Now that needs a $50,000 software program to make it easilt accessible but we didn't buy that.
It's the same principle that brought about market value assessment. The object was to have single measurement for property value an so that when financial support from the Province was forthcoming, it was calculated on the same factor. .
Without an inventory of assets, there was no way to keep track of how muicipalities were managing their resources. The new system. when it's in place , is supposed to help even the playing field.
But it's a massive undertaking. Even the Province isn't sure how it would or could be done .
They watch anxiously for progress.
When they thik they see it they shout Haloooo
"Oh Look, Aurora bought software. All do what they're doing and everything will be fine. "
My commenter says "Nobody understands it or likes it"
Well that's not true. I may be the only one on our Council who thinks I understand and don't like it.
The thing about municipalities in the GTA, we all have massive amounts of found money from development charge levies.
Easy come and easy go
This week we approved another study at a cost of $96,500. For ideas of how to revitalise the downtown.
Nobody notices the vitality, everyplace except in that centre block.
$96,500 buys nothing but a pile of paper and photos.of how things could look.and by the way a fomat for lending tax money to private property owners to improve their facades.
We took the money from new families for the study but the project is not attributable in any way to their coming to live in our town.
We hear other municipalities are doing it.
So they are.
For the same reason we are.
They've got the money to burn and they don't have to account for it.
Consultants are having a heyday.
.
Thursday 20 December 2012
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3 comments:
Other municipalitities do it because Aurora does it and Aurora does it because Richmond Hill or Newmarket might be doing it. Do we really have to keep up with everyone? I recall Councillor Gaertner bitching because Magna gave Aurora less than Newmarket. It would be great if we just tended to our own business.
By now it should be evident to all who give a damn that the three levels of government don't have a clue as to what is happening from a financial perspective.
How can a province mandate a system that it, itself, is incapable of implementing, with a staff and budget many multiples of most municipalities.
The federal government is playing games with the CPP because it doesn't have the faintest idea as to how many people will have to draw upon it, for how long and to what extent. The finance minsters' meeting just concluded was simply a jocular exercise that provided an opportunity to have a bottle or two of fine Bordeaux at taxpayers' expense.
Do we really need to spend almost $100,000 on another study, when common sense would easily conclude what should be done?
What has been the actual value realized in dollar terms of the studies done over the past ten years? How many studies were ever implemented, in part or in whole?
And in our little hobbit-town, just a day away from the official onset of winter the braying of the biggest ass on Council rings clarion-like through the air. What is his problem? Does he not have a big enough ass to kiss?
It is that phrase " found money " that entices council to spend more than taxpayers would like. We do not consider it to be 'found money '. Nor do we consider the now-former Hydro Reserve Fund something to be frittered away.
You commented that other municipalities are spending to ' revitalise ' town cores.I wonder if their development money is under the same down-turn as that of Aurora. We keep hearing about costs and money being spent ; seldom about any coming into the coffers.
,Alison had a good article in the Auroran about three New Year suggested projects for Council. How many councillors would have read it? Maybe 5 ?
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