Cambridge taxpayers’ group seeks changes in budget process

Members of the Cambridge Taxpayers Support Group want to work with the city to make the municipality’s budget process better understood by the public.

“We have a concern with reconciling the (city’s) financial statements with the budget,” said spokesperson Paul Boucek.

“Our group has many people that have financial acumen. We understand financial statements, we understand the budgeting process, but we are not able to reconcile the two.

“That’s why we decided to form this group and see if we can work with the council, and with the staff and the citizens to see if we can all come to a common ground and improve.”

Boucek said his group would like the city to focus on the taxpayer to make “tax increases affordable, but also responsible.”

The group urged the city to shift its focus from resourcebased budgeting to needs-based budgeting. It also wants to see the development of a clearly defined fiscal planning process that provides answers about the budget as it is being developed.

The group has already put out a questionnaire and has interviewed some members of council.

Following a formal presentation to city council, Boucek told councillors the group “is looking for a zero-based budget process concentrating on needs, not wants.”

That led to a number of comments from councillors indicating that things like road improvements and the new fire station are needed by the community and resources have to be set aside in reserves to pay for them.

Boucek also told council the group also wants to talk with candidates in the upcoming municipal election and have them also fill out the questionnaire.

Mayor Doug Craig suggested the group be careful with putting out questionnaires during an election because, “you’ll get the answers you want.”

Craig said municipal government uses different accounting processes and are regulated differently than a business by the provincial and federal governments.

He also noted that while Cambridge’s taxes may seem higher than the surrounding municipalities, Cambridge provides its taxpayers with a total tax bill, while Kitchener and Waterloo present their taxpayers with one bill for taxes and another for stormwater management.

Members of council have generally agreed to work with the group.