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<DIV>I've been emailing both City of Waterloo and City of Kitchener councils with data regarding economic consequences regarding the potential merging of the City of Waterloo to the City of Kitchener. I've sent the first letter to everyone the other day. Here's the follow up correspondence for your reference. The emails for all the councillors are below if anyone wants to have a say on the matter. </DIV>
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<DIV>Night folks!</DIV>
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<DIV>Lulu :0)<BR><BR>--- On <B>Tue, 2/9/10, Louisette Lanteigne <I><butterflybluelu@rogers.com></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><BR>From: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu@rogers.com><BR>Subject: Fw: Further Economic Issues regarding possible Merger Question<BR>To: Carl.Zehr@kitchener.ca, John.Gazzola@kitchener.ca, John.Smola@kitchener.ca, Berry.Vrbanovic@kitchener.ca, Kelly.Galloway@kitchener.ca, Geoff.Lorentz@kitchener.ca, Christina.Weylie@kitchener.ca<BR>Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 11:12 PM<BR><BR>
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<DIV>Dear Mayor Zehr and Kitchener Council Members</DIV>
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<DIV>Here is the second email regarding the economic issues related to the topic of a merger of Kitchener and Waterloo. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Louisette Lanteigne</DIV>
<DIV>700 Star Flower Ave.</DIV>
<DIV>Waterloo Ontario</DIV>
<DIV>N2V 2L2<BR><BR>--- On <B>Tue, 2/9/10, Louisette Lanteigne <I><butterflybluelu@rogers.com></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><BR>From: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu@rogers.com><BR>Subject: Further Economic Issues regarding possible Merger Question<BR>To: "Jan d'Ailly" <jdailly@city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Diane Freeman" <dfreeman@city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Brenda Halloran" <bhalloran@city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Ian McLean" <imclean@city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Karen Scian" <kscian@city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Angela Vieth" <avieth@city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Mark Whaley" <mwhaley@city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Scott Witmer" <switmer@city.waterloo.on.ca><BR>Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 10:56 PM<BR><BR>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN><SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN><SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> <FONT size=2>Dear Mayor Halloran and Waterloo City Council Members</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN><SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN><SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2>At this time, the world is experiencing a global fiscal crisis. The decline of the</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN><SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2>housing market, the collapse of banks and auto manufacturers, the debt of</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN><SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2>European nations are all taking a toll on the global economy. Locally Waterloo</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN><SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2>holds a huge burden of debt in part to rising costs, in part to a woeful legacy</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN><SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2>associated with poor fiscal choices including RIM Park.</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN><SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Provincially, since March 28, 2008, there has been a 28% increase in minimum</SPAN></FONT></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">wage that will be fully in effect on March 2010 with the last of the three</SPAN></FONT></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">provincially mandated pay increases. We also have the new HST</SPAN></FONT></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">and according to<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> Revenue Canada , Municipalities can only get a rebate for 78% of the PST portion of the HST. This means there will be higher costs for</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">municipal projects and increases are to be expected. We also must have regard to the following economic variables:</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></FONT>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> <FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN>o<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The global recession and national debt: Will funding be there to</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">fund capital projects?</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN>o<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Collapse of the auto sector and it's impact on local workers and</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">jobs.</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN>o<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Collapse of major banks</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN>o<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Loss of tax revenue and the costs of unemployment</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN>o<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">LRT, the YMCA/Library and other capital projects</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN>o<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Climate change uncertainties re: tornados, floods and water</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">contamination etc. </SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN>o<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Rising costs in the illness cost of smog </SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN>o<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Aging population and related health care costs</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN>o<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Peak oil and adaptation needs</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN>o<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Aging infrastructure</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN>o<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Rising costs of materials and labour HST, minimum wage,</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">possible carbon tax, rising fuel costs etc.</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">In all the reports I have reviewed regarding the amalgamation of cities</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">across</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Canada, I have not found one case that has proven actual cost savings or better</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">overall service for taxpayers. On the contrary it appears that tax increases of at least</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> 20% are to be expected along with a degradation of community</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">services. </SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Employee salaries for large municipalities are much higher, litigation</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">and</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">insurance costs go up. </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Here is an excellent report by Edward G.</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Campbell, III the</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Mayor of Gibbsboro </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Borough as published by the</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">New Jersey State League of</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Municipalities showing </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">why small towns</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">save money in compairson to larger</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">municipalities. </SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><A href="http://www.njslom.org/magart_0508_pg59.html" rel=nofollow target=_blank>http://www.njslom.org/magart_0508_pg59.html</A></SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">In my view it is morally and ethically reprehensible for anyone to</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">imply that a merger</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">of the Cities of Kitchener and Waterloo will lead to</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">any reasonable measure of cost</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">savings or added benefit to</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">taxpayers. </SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">I hope this will assist you in your vote on February 22nd.</SPAN>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Louisette Lanteigne</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">700 Star Flower Ave.</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Waterloo Ontario</SPAN>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">N2V 2L2</SPAN>
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