Paul Christian 2018

Here is the the Soo summary of the BMA report I posted a few days ago. http://saultstemarie.ca/Cityw//Finance/BMApresentation.pdf

Congratulations to Ashlee Gerard and the Strive: Young Professionals Group for holding the Mayoral Debate tonight. It’s great to see our young professionals taking the lead and hosting this important event. I am reaching out to their members, offering to mentor anyone interested in running in the 2022 election. WE NEED YOUNG ENERGY AND IDEAS! Below: 1) Myself and Paul Scornaienchi - President, Downtown Association sharing ideas. 2) Mayoral Candidates discussing the issues.

One thing that has become apparent during this election is that many of us are either under informed or misinformed. If re-elected, I will move a resolution which will ask that every council meeting begin with a couple of important facts about Sault Ste. Marie that every viewer can hear during the telecast. I think council and city staff need to do a better job of informing the public about relevant information that is important for all of us to know.... There are many great things happening in our city, but information is often lacking or misrepresented. With that in mind, I am providing the following link below which will give you some very important information about taxation and how we fair with our Northern neighbours and Ontario as a whole. You will see that although we may need to work on a few areas, especially industrial tax rates, we stack up quite well in many other areas. https://brockville.com/index.cfm Please consider looking at the following pages: 299 Residential tax comparisons (bungalow) 308 executive residential taxes 303 2 story high rise (these are high) 314 Summary chart 447 Property taxes as a percentage of household income

Here are my thoughts on our downtown. The city needs to do all it can to support the downtown strategy as it develops. The city needs to streamline or eliminate procedures that impede downtown initiatives. The city has 4 different grant or tax deferral programs that are intended to stimulate investment in the downtown core. We need to maintain these programs and do all we can to promote them. Converting second floors of downtown buildings into upscale apartments will st...imulate long term growth in the area. Eliminate paid parking. Our parking program looses money. Do our best to replace permanent sidewalk elements with seasonal ones so that we can improve snow removal operations in the winter. Repurpose Clergue park by offering infrastructure and programs that cater to young adults.- Beach volley ball courts and similar activities in the summer and skating trail in winter. A couple of out of the box ideas to consider A select group of students from Sault College and Algoma University can earn credits supplying Marketing, Security and Management services to the Downtown Association. This will encourage youth involvement and assist the D.A. Create a theme or identity for the D.A. to assist with marketing, especially with tourists. The St. Mary’s river has been recognized nationally as a gathering place- why not pick up on that theme? Create a marketing zone/membership program- special discounts etc.for members. Let’s hold a Party in the Park at Clergue Park each Friday from June to the end of August. Each Friday from 4 to 8 pm people attend& pay nominal entry fee. One of the downtown restaurants or bars can host, offering finger foods etc. beverages can be served. A local band can play as entertainment. Each week a local not- for- profit can provide support for the event and all profits can go to that charity. - it’s a great way to end the week and see friends etc. before the weekend - it’s a great fundraising opportunity for the not-for-profit - it gets people downtown - other downtown businesses can be present, promoting deals etc See more

Today I want to share a few thoughts and facts about city taxes. I will list my thoughts in point form to make it easier to write and read. I also hate paying city taxes!!! I want to keep our taxes as low as possible without cutting services!! We have cut $2 million dollars out of our spending. From $115 million to $113 million The provincial government does not allow municipalities to borrow money to fund our budget.... About 40% of the city’s operating budget is non-controllable. In other words, we must levy citizens from outside agencies and boards like Conservation Authority, Police Services Board, DSSAB etc. We don’t set their budgets. Last years additional expenses that were incurred by the city: WSIB enhancements which require additional payments by municipalities, higher fuel costs ($300,000), minimum wage legislation ($250,000), and Bill 148. One of my competitors claims they will bring in tax reductions. It is possible, however, this person likely does not realize that wage increases in Emergency Services alone (Police, Fire,EMS) add at least $2 million/year. Police separate board, Fire - usually settles close to police and seldom lose at arbitration. Not saying these employees are not worth it- just saying that these are the realities we face- SO, that means they would need to find at least $8 million in cuts over 4 years just to handle this aspect of the budget not to mention the other issues listed above. This individual also says they want to use any surpluses to lower tax increases. I don’t agree- any reduction used in the first year has to be made up the following year (this may need further explanation). More tomorrow night See more