Budget inadequate for city services

Re: Council approves budget, sets tax increase at 0.9%, by Brian Cross, Jan. 16, 2018

According to the abovementioned article, the City of Windsor approved an $800-million operating budget for 2018. This means that City of Windsor taxpayers will see an increase of 0.9% added to their property taxes, bringing the total to 2.1% in 2018. It seems to me that this small increase in property taxes, coupled with a low operating budget will turn out to be an insignificant amount of money to fund all city services adequately in the upcoming year.

Why do I think that the approved 2018 budget will turn out to be inadequate? Well, all one needs to do is look at what the most recent snow storm cleanup cost the City of Windsor. The city’s snow removal budget sits around $4 million dollars. The last storm used approximately half that budget.

What about the roads? Anyone notice how the roads are literally crumbling apart causing major potholes to form because of the freeze/ thaw cycle we’re currently experiencing ? And what about the flooding last August? It’s obvious that the sewers in certain parts of the city are quite outdated and need replacing.

The City of Windsor’s infrastructure needs constant maintenance and updating, but to do this, property taxes need to be raised. So, as a community, do we want new roads and sewers, or do we want no tax increase? Michaela Tape, Windsor