Madhunt Publishing Company
Alliston, Ontario

Madhunt Publishing Company
founded March 22, 1999.

New Tecumseth Free Press Online
First Posted April 30, 1999

To email: Tony Veltri .

New Tecumseth Free Press Online welcomes and reads letters to the editor reflecting the diverse views of all readers.

Letters on timely subjects of broad interest will be published. Letters may be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity.

We do not publish poetry, third-party or anonymous letters, or those signed with a pseudonym. We will however post letters without a name if warranted.

For verification purposes, your address and daytime telephone number are required, although we do not publish them.

We do not include the writer's email address, unless requested to do so.

'Very large amount of money has been spent unwisely'

Posted January 14, 2013

I would like to add my two cents into the debate about the proposed eight to nine per cent tax hike, and respond to last week's group of letter writers.

Both Adam Hutchinson and Russ Smith make some very valid points in their letters. While I may not agree wholeheartedly with either of these two gentleman, I can't help but agree that Council is in dire need of some much needed house cleaning.

Mr. Smith raised a very important question. Where does the money go that would cause our property and water taxes to increase?

There is more than enough evidence to suggest that a very large amount of money has been spent unwisely and definitely wastefully. While multiple lawsuits, wasteful subsidizing, and perhaps a conflict of interest or two are direct results of overspending; what Council really does need to do is to review where monies are distributed.

I'm an avid supporter of the arts, and I do enjoy some of the sports in and around town, and I'm not suggesting that our town not support these types of activities. What I am suggesting is that more evaluation and perhaps a few cut-backs need to be considered before granting funds that are not in the best interest of the majority of the residents who foot the bill at the end of the day.

As for emergency services, I would never suggest nor support cut-backs in this particular area because if only one life is saved as a result of having the best of the best for these services, then I applaud the Town's decision to move forward and continue providing the necessary funding to accommodate these services.

In further response to Ms. Latanville, I don't think that either gentleman is disgruntled about the Town's expenditures for services or activities that they don't use. Rather, it's the wasteful expenditures that are so blatantly evident that are causing continuous tax hikes when we already live in an area widely known for its high cost of living, and it continues to go up annually.

I did vote in the last election, and as a taxpayer, I have every right to criticize and air my opinion about council, the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, and anyone else at the Town office who is responsible for spending taxpayers dollars. I also have the right to expect a full accountability for doing so and if in disagreement, I have the right to criticize that too.

Marie Simms,
Beeton