Mon Dec 18: Can We Talk About This Research Report on City Services & Taxation?

Plus: OSDSS students raised $1700 for the Fire Fighters' Toy Drive

We asked last week, “How would you rate your understanding of local governance and taxation issues?”

Here’s what you said:

Now, 40 respondents is a small sample size. On the flip side, those who read local news and engage in polls like this are likely better informed than most.

And yet 60% feel your understanding of local governance and taxation issues is Poor or Very Poor.

Elections are not the time to learn how things work or gain a base-level understanding of municipal (or any government) issues; it’s too easy to get lost in all the noise and promises.

How can we improve our collective understanding of how local governments make decisions that impact us in real ways in our everyday lives?

Maybe you’ve sat on a City committee in the past and are willing to share what you learned – write us a letter to the editor.

Perhaps you’re a sitting or former Councilor with insight into process and procedure – share an opinion column. We may even have a regular slot for you.

It could be that you’re using experience gained through employment to conduct research others in your community may find helpful – like Jim Hutton, whose recent City services research report can help us understand how Owen Sound performs compared to its peers in key financial areas.

Mr. Hutton dropped copies of his research report off to council members in mid-November, yet we haven’t heard a peep about it in open council session.

Make some time this week to check out my article above, then download Hutton’s report and have a look for yourself. It’s a lot of information, but it adds a great deal of useful context to what we see happening as another budget is passed.

We’ll keep working on finding ways to share insight and educational resources on local governance and taxation. If there’s another community voice we can help amplify in pursuit of these goals, let us know.

~ Miranda