Opinion: Is North Bay in a crisis?

Editor's note: This letter was written by North Bay resident Neal McNamara.

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Our city’s economic future seems…. less than optimal. The message coming from City Hall is a bucket full of sunshine and the message coming from the North Bay Taxpayers Association is a bucket full of fish heads. It’s hard to tell if we're getting the straight facts from either side or is it all just political maneuvering and spin.

Well, we are in the digital age now and the information is out there, so I did some checking and here are some facts….. City spending on growth and infrastructure is at record levels with no end in sight. But the spending isn’t coming from our growth and success, and it doesn’t seem to be creating any real growth, just more debt. Property values are down in 2016 but property taxes are at record levels. Good jobs are leaving year after year and are not being replaced. The number of Ontario Works cases is at record levels and our population is aging rapidly with no immigration and at the same time the schools are shutting down in record numbers because there aren’t enough children.

So where’s this spending coming from? About 2/3 is coming from taxes and the other 1/3 is coming from two sources, the hydro sale and debt. The way the city set up the loan years ago, North Bay Hydro would have paid the city $1 million a year, every year……forever. But, this city council voted to recall the Hydro loan to pocket a quick $25 million to spend on capital projects and to artificially lower property tax increases over a 3 year period, at which time we’ll see massive property tax increases, severe cuts to city services, or both. On the debt side, city Council has been borrowing through debentures and running up the long-term debt to record levels. Simply put, they are racking up an enormous credit card bill that will surpass $100 million over the next two years, with no way to pay for it.

North Bay is in crisis and I think it’s time to stand up and address it head on, before it gets worse.

The Chinese word for crisis is comprised of the symbols of danger and opportunity. So perhaps this crisis presents us all an opportunity to come together to address these challenges.

That’s the message I’ll be delivering Monday night (Dec 19) to city council.

Neal McNamara.