Holy Crap! Is City Council Lost Their Mind

Oops! My mistake. It is not Toronto City Council and Mayor Miller it is Whitehorse City Council although before the year is out we will probably see a similar newsreport from the Toronto newspapers.

Council approves tax, fine increases
By Matthew Grant

City council has passed four new bylaws covering a variety of issues.

At their weekly meeting Monday evening, members of council voted in favour of raising taxes, increasing parking meter fines, cracking down on people stealing spots at city parkades and thwarting doorway smokers.

“I declare bylaw 2007-11, a bylaw to amend the city’s smoking bylaw, officially adopted,” Mayor Bev Buckway said of the last new municipal rule to hit the books.
The new smoking bylaw, according to city documents, will make it illegal to place ashtrays in a non-smoking establishment or in the buffer area outside the entrances to non-smoking buildings.
The 2007 tax levy bylaw (2007-02) was brought in with the city’s 2007 budget. It will see property owners pay five per cent more in taxes this year compared with last year.
The average assessed home, valued at $132,000, will now be paying $1,634 a year in property taxes compared with $1,555 in 2006.
Property taxes have risen about $200 since 2003.
The bylaw to amend parking fines, 2007-08, will see penalties associated with the city’s 527 downtown parking meters double.
Fines will be going from $5 to $10 when they’re paid within one hour of the offence; from $10 to $25 for payments received before court dates; and from $25 to $50 for fines that have gone to court.
Bylaw services manager John Taylor told council earlier this month the projected increase in parking fine revenue for 2007 is $141,000 and $188,000 for 2008.
The new meter fines will be implemented on April 2.
Parking in spots that don’t belong to you at the city parkades near city hall, council decided Monday, will now cost you $100 as opposed to the previous $10 fine.
“Sometimes we get three, four or five phone calls a month from people who have had someone parking in their stalls,” Taylor told council earlier this month.
Coun. Dave Stockdale said he feels the new parking fines should be implemented on April 1, instead of the next day.
City bylaw officers, Taylor told council in early February, will embark on an information campaign prior to the parking fine increases.
Council won’t be meeting again until after the Canada Winter Games end.