Jeff Renaud

Sounds like alot of thought and planning has gone on to make hockey happen for our Vipers. Great article, sad that fans will not be there to cheer them on...but I am glad that these young athletes will continue to build the skills that will continue their athletic journeys towards bigger audiences in the future. https://www.chathamdailynews.ca//gojhl-has-approval-to-sta

As many of you know, I frequent many pages in Facebook and do my best to keep positive communication moving in the town. People tag me and ask questions and I will occasionally comment on things that just aren't TRUE or FAIR. Today I wanted to share this graphic from our finance department as was presented at our last council meeting. Let it be known that ... I LIVE IN LASALLE AND DONT WAN'T TO PAY MORE TAXES. I am proud that in the 6 years I have been on council, we have consistently kept increases to the millrate below inflation (2%). What has caused tax bills to rise has been the red hot housing market. The higher your value, the higher your tax bill whether we put it up or not. This year MPAC has frozen values, so tax bill increases will be substantially less. However inflation has not stopped, raises, the cost of goods, etc . Here is a chart that shows WHERE the 1.95% is coming from. There are a few things of note: In the millrate is 300k for long term capital. 3 years ago council committed to 600k for a 5 year period to try and catch up on savings for infrastructure. It was cut in half. When I asked if this was because we had achieved our goals early...I was told, "no this is to soften the impact and provide relief to the taxpayer" This WILL come back to haunt us in the future, as I have sat in enough classrooms in this country to know that NOBODY has achieved their goal of "paid up asset capital" Out of the millrate is the 18M of funding for the Small coast project. The first 10M will come from our capital (savings account) budget. This is an account that has been earmarked specifically for projects like this. If we choose NOT to spend it this year, it has NO effect on your property taxes. It simply stays in the bank til it is needed. Before you post things like "1.95% ---OFF WITH COUNCIL'S HEADS" feel free to PM me and we can discuss where you feel savings can be made. I am open to suggestions. hic

Just a reminder, there is more need this year. If you have not given to the drive in the past, give it a thought.

Congratulations to LaSalle rocker Jake Diab and Autumn Kings for their Biz X Magazine award. Great work ethic and great music!

Anyone who follows me knows that I am passionate about a few things, good communities, good music and good people. I have been "following" the musical journey of LaSalle native Dane Roberts for about 7 years now when we first met through my son Brad as he invited a few classmates over for some quality time in our music studio. Fast forward through teenaged bands, local performances and respect from musicians and other industry folks and we come to "Chasing Water", released today on all major platforms. In COVID times as we are trying to support local ... BUY this music and start sone great conversations over the holidays. You can't regret it!