The city is boasting that 41 so-called My Great Neigbourhood Projects ‘came to life’ in 2021. Some $125,000 was contributed by taxpayers this year, totaling an astounding $750,000 since 2016.
Among the grants this year were $650 for an online tea party, $1,000 for the creation of a human library, and $1,500 for a street comedy night.
Taxpayers can’t help but wonder if the $750,000 was better spent on rejuvenating our dreadful roads. According to the city, there are 106 km of major or arterial roads in the city, 27 per cent of them are judged to be in fair or poor condition. There are 173 km of local roads, 34 per cent of those are in poor or fair condition.
Three years into the term, it seems our free-spending council continues to focus on popular but hardly necessary items, instead of on renewing our critical infrastructure for the next generation.
When asked to assess the value residents get for their tax dollars for all the programs, services and capital projects they receive from the City of Victoria, 55 per cent of respondents said they receive very or fairly poor value for their tax dollars. That compares to 39 per cent last year in last year’s public engagement outreach on the budget proposal.
The election is still nearly a year off, but you can almost hear the tea cups rattle across Victoria.
Stan Bartlett, Vice Chair
Grumpy Taxpayer$ of Greater Victoria
