Fiscal Responsibility Means Making Choices

For more than a decade on City Council Round Up, I talked about how Thunder Bay spends your money. I supported investments when I thought they made sense, questioned them when the numbers didn't add up, and occasionally wondered out loud what Council was thinking. After watching years of budgets, capital plans and major project debates, my position really isn't complicated: City Hall has to do a better job distinguishing between what we need and what we want.

Fiscal responsibility doesn't mean saying no to everything. I've never believed that, and my commentary over the years reflects it. There are times when the City absolutely should spend money. Roads have to be rebuilt, water and sewer systems have to be maintained, equipment has to be replaced, emergency services have to function and neighbourhood infrastructure has to be looked after. Sometimes spending money today actually saves taxpayers considerably more tomorrow. That's responsible spending.

The problem comes when we treat every good idea as though it automatically deserves to become a City project. It doesn't. There are plenty of things that would be great to have in Thunder Bay, but Council has to consider them against everything else competing for the same limited pool of money. When we're facing a significant infrastructure deficit, carrying substantial debt and asking residents for more every year, priorities have to mean something.

I've been particularly critical of previous Council decisions when I thought that distinction was being ignored. The indoor turf facility is probably the clearest example. I questioned how a project that began as a roughly $17-million concept could grow into a commitment I calculated in my Round Up commentary at more than $50 million when financing and related costs were considered. My objection was never to soccer or indoor recreation. My question was whether this was the right project, at the right price, at the right time, particularly when the City was also discussing borrowing tens of millions of dollars and facing major infrastructure pressures.

That is the conversation I believe has been missing too often at City Hall. We can debate a few hundred dollars in councillor expenses for the better part of an hour, but the real financial consequences for taxpayers are found in decisions involving millions of dollars, long-term borrowing and new facilities that come with operating costs long after the ribbon is cut. Those are the decisions where fiscal responsibility really matters.

Every dollar the City spends started as somebody else's dollar. I think Council needs to remember that every time it approves a budget or a major project. Before spending, we should be asking whether something is necessary, whether it is a priority, whether we're getting good value, whether another level of government should be contributing and what the decision will cost taxpayers ten or twenty years from now. That's not being negative. That's doing the job.

Thunder Bay has real needs. We have aging roads, sewers, water systems, bridges, sidewalks and public facilities. We need economic growth, housing development and reliable essential services. We also have residents dealing with the same rising costs that affect the City itself. Council cannot simply assume there is always more room on the tax bill.

The next Council will have to make choices, and some of them won't be popular. My approach will be the same one I've taken for years: understand the numbers, ask the questions, listen to the answers and decide whether the expenditure is truly a priority.

Needs before wants.

Take care of what we already own before continually adding more.

Invest when the investment makes sense.

And never forget who is paying the bill.

That's what fiscal responsibility means to me.