Ping pong and poets, or potholes and police
While the full social and economic cost of the wretched pandemic to Greater Victoria residents won’t be known for months, we already know it’s profoundly life-changing. Nearly 5.4 million Canadians…
Enter the twilight zone
Denial, delay or complete dysfunction? Grumpy Taxpayer$ believes that most of the 13 municipalities in Greater Victoria are living in their own expensive reality – a twilight zone – and…
Report on policing and costs for Greater Victoria released
Percentage of local budget ranges from 4.5 to 23.3% Victoria, Esquimalt and Central Saanich continue to spend significantly more of their budget on policing than other municipalities in Greater Victoria,…
What to do when councillors behave badly
Code of Conduct with enforcement needed Taxpayers often wonder about remedies when councillors or a mayor behave badly. There are tools available to address or prevent less-than-responsible conduct by locally…
Potholes of ‘almost Biblical proportions’ in Saanich
Road investment levels under review in Saanich After one of the rainiest Januarys on record, the war on potholes and deteriorating roads may have to be ramped up in Saanich.…
Council salary issue must go to 2022 referendum
There’s something unsettling about politicians suggesting a pay increase of 55 per cent for themselves. When it follows a checkered job performance during the first year of this term, it…
Are quality, core services and climate change related?
Are quality core services and climate change connected? Climate change is a massive political, cultural and technological undertaking that demands mayor and council deliver better quality core services. Consider, the…
Partisan ‘civic political parties’ bad for taxpayers
BY JOHN TRELEAVEN AND STAN BARTLETT Local taxpayers are better served with unaligned independent politicians. For starters, Grumpy Taxpayer$ does not support any mayor, councillor or political party, rather we…
Almost 10,000 residents defer property taxes
Property taxes ‘out of sight and out of mind’ for many in Greater Victoria Increased use of the province’s property tax deferral program by thousands of local homeowners results in…