PETERS – We’re stuck with the bill for previous councils’ short-sighted water rate decisions
(Image: Mel Rothenburger)
IT’S EASY TO UNDERSTAND why residents struggling in the midst of an affordability crisis might be more than a little miffed at the City of Kamloops right now.
Any explanation as to why the water rate might rise by 63 per cent over the next five years — no matter how logical — is bound to be met with frustration.If politicians can do little to control inflation — as has been made clear over the past years — they should at least attempt to control the costs that they set directly.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
I agree with Pierre in the sense that it is a combined failure of both council and administration. The fact that council choose to go the debt route which will end up costing more money once all set and done is mind blowing to me. They should have just sucked it up and paid for everything up front like they originally were going to on the first vote in this most current saga. This city relies far too much on debt financing. If the savings fund for the new city hall would have been a thing, then we could have a nice new proper one by now fitting for a city out size. The fact that smaller towns and cities have better city halls then we do is also mind blowing to me.
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We pay $10 million more on city salaries than Nanaimo which is larger than Kamloops and $10 million more per capita than Kelowna. We pay $25 million more per capita than both Chilliwack and Maple Ridge which are only slightly smaller cities. The 4 highest paid non CAO managers in the entire interior are all from Kamloops. Trawin negotiated all these contracts and recommended them all to councils which rubber stamped them, does he really deserve a raise form his $330, 000 yr salary? In 2007 our previous city manager, Randy Diehl, made $50,000 less than his counterpart in Kelowna, now the city managers make the same. Our city directors made $30,000 less than Kelowna’s, last yr they made on average $235,000 which was $29,000 more than their counterparts in Kelowna. Do any of these employees deserve further raises?
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We may have different mayors and councillors but we have the same city managers who drew these plans and recommended them to council. When do they take responsibility, I suggest we start with freezing management salaries in the upcoming contract.
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It’s not really fair to blame previous councils, since city administration told council in 2021 that the city’s water operating fund projection predicted a surplus balance of over $10 million in 2023, over $7 million in 2024 and $9.5 million in 2025. https://www.kamloops.ca/sites/default/files/docs/Financial%20Plan%202021-2025%20FINAL%20Combined.pdf
How can any council make a correct decision when given incorrect information?
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Council doesn’t seem too concerned. I haven’t heard even a whisper about firing those responsible for those projections, or lambasting them for proving poor analysis.
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How can the administration at City Hall justify their huge salaries? How can Council justify their decisions that led to wasteful spending like the $100K temporary stage that they voted for?
If you were paying someone $300K to manage your affairs, and they turn around and hit you with a 63% increase over the course of a few small years, add another 10% to your property tax, I think most people would be fired on the spot.
Things like this don’t just creep up. They happen due to mismanagement and incompetence.
How dare this council subject the residents of Kamloops to these outrageous increases, especially when people are out here struggling to pay the bills.
It’s too bad you don’t need to pass an IQ test, a management aptitude test, or any other formal measurement we have to test competency to become a city councillor. You just have to stand up, lie to the people, and you’re now in a position to take from them to fund your incompetent decisions.
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The failure is a combination of council AND administration, mostly administration IMO.
And shouldn’t “development assist” be paid by development? Why should we subsidize development?
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