Taxpayers shouldn’t pay to hire fundraiser

Peterborough County should be do- ing a better job of managing its roads, bridges and other hard services.

It should not be in the fundraising business.

That’s the short response to a 2018 budget proposal to create new jobs for both functions.

The size of the salaries is not an issue. Each position would pay just over $55,000. If knowledgeable, effective employees could be found at those rates they would pay for themselves.

It appears an asset manager is necessary. Troy Speck, the county’s recently hired chief administrator officer, certainly thinks so. He told councillors that municipalities, Peterborough County included, need to “get their act together.”

The provincial government agrees. It is pressuring small municipalities to put together long-range plans for both the repair and replacement of aging infrastructure. To its credit, the province is providing funding to help develop those plans.

That’s a sensible approach. Roads and bridges are part of a municipality’s core business. Peterborough County spends several million dollars a year just to keep its road network in good repair and is falling behind.

Investing the cost of a salary to make that process more efficient should pay off.

Fundraising is not part of municipality’s core business. In fact, as a community service it is about as far removed from municipal responsibility as could be imagined.

County staff who put together the budget proposal, and presumably councillors who didn’t speak against creating the position, don’t see it that way.

What they see is a new revenue stream. The temptation to raise money without raising taxes is strong.

Scott McFadden, who sits on county council as Mayor of Cavan Monaghan Township., pointed out that fundraising for community projects is, and should be, done by the community.

He used the example of a new recreation centre for Cavan Monaghan. Volunteers have taken on the task or raising $1 million to help pay for it.

That effort will strengthen the ties that bind communities together. Fundraising campaigns often create community leaders who continue to contribute in other ways.

Volunteer leaders, not a paid administrator, will work together to achieve a goal. Ultimately that goal whatever the actual project, is to improve their home community. Cutting back on the tax rate might be a welcome side benefit but is never seen as more than that.