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Very good summary of the merger question, Lulu.<br>
<br>
I am not sure if you have seen my Second Opinion piece in The Record,
June 22, which is based on research of the relevant expert literature,
and which comes to the same conclusions.<br>
<br>
However, nobody seems to have picked up on the environmental part of
the merger issue. This issue has come out loud and clear in the recent
Kitchener Council meeting June 21, where Council voted to keep the
southwest corner of Kitchener open for development. The Region wants it
declared Protected Countryside because it is a vital recharge area for
the Moraine. The issue came up again at the Regional Council meeting
June 23 where Council voted on the ROP. Although Mayor Zehr and his
Kitchener colleagues on Regional Council fought very hard for keeping
the southwest corner open for development, they were defeated,
fortunately. But this gives you an idea of what would be in store for
us if Waterloo were to merge with Kitchener. Kitchener, with twice the
size, would dominate with their slash-and-build mentality. I have
warned about this danger before, and the events of the week of June 21
proved my point. The clear conclusion is that for Waterloo, a merger
would mean higher taxes, less representation, and less environment. <br>
<br>
Keep up the good work.<br>
<br>
Emil.<br>
<br>
<br>
Louisette Lanteigne wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid121076.42719.qm@web88301.mail.re4.yahoo.com">
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<div><br>
I created a webpage which I've shared with several candidates regarding
the Kitchener - Waterloo merger issue. I did my own preliminary
research on the matter and compiled a summery of the findings that can
be viewed here:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://waterloomoraineact.com/costsofmerger.htm">http://waterloomoraineact.com/costsofmerger.htm</a>
<div><br>
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<div>
<div>Along side what was on the net, I have another report re:
costs per capita increases due to amalgamation with figures reflecting
various mergers across Canada that can be seen here: </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>( I can't get the links to PDF reports working in my
emails due to the new web browser I'm trying out but if you cut and
past the URL and you'll get there.)</div>
<div><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.fcpp.org/pdf/FB%2022%20Reassessing%20Local%20Government%20Amalgamation%20FEB%2004.pdf">http://www.fcpp.org/pdf/FB%2022%20Reassessing%20Local%20Government%20Amalgamation%20FEB%2004.pdf</a><br>
<br>
</div>
<div>
<div>When it comes to costs and mergers, the main issue is
scale. The bigger the municipality, the larger the demographics of
servicing is needed and this reduces the pool of companies
that municipalities can selecting from when providing municipal
services. The larger companies tend to merge with area firms creating a
monopoly and these larger firms tend to take full advantage of
municipalities.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The 20-30% increase in taxes is a fiscal
demographic arguement not limited to the concept of mergers but
certainly relevant. For example, U.S. cities of more than one million
population spend 21 percent more per capita than the cities with
500,000 to 1,000,000 residents, 18 percent more per capita than cities
with 100,000 to 500,000 residents and 13 percent more than the average
city To view one quick Chart titled <em>US City Expenditures per
Capita by Size</em> visit this weblink<em>:</em></div>
<div><em></em> </div>
<div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
href="http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.publicpurpose.com/tor-wcc3.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.publicpurpose.com/tor-demo.htm&usg=__3bOQB5A1cmI-ZlyTcVEaFDxJDvU=&h=268&w=313&sz=5&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=6o9a0_shQY4L8M:&tbnh=100&tbnw=117&prev=/images%3Fq%3Damalgamation%2Bcities%2B20%2525%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7IRFA_en%26tbs%3Disch:1">http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.publicpurpose.com/tor-wcc3.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.publicpurpose.com/tor-demo.htm&usg=__3bOQB5A1cmI-ZlyTcVEaFDxJDvU=&h=268&w=313&sz=5&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=6o9a0_shQY4L8M:&tbnh=100&tbnw=117&prev=/images%3Fq%3Damalgamation%2Bcities%2B20%2525%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7IRFA_en%26tbs%3Disch:1</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>What we need to do is focus the view on our current
population and municipal financing numbers per capita on topics folks
can relate too: waste management, schooling, library services etc.
A merger will basically "increase" the population artifically
so if we examine the economic per capita numbers from cities that have
a population equal to a Kitchener and Waterloo city combined, we can
create our fiscal arguements from there.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>This next report is a handy one. It shows a basic example
of a cost issues associated with mergers on page 15 ( or page 21 of the
PDF report) featuring the section regarding waste management. It's a
common service that folks can relate to. Check out the costs of this
service for small vs. Larger municipalities and observe how complicated
the service becomes the bigger the city gets. <a rel="nofollow"
target="_blank" href="http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/bish.pdf">http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/bish.pdf</a>. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Now if you recall the inconvience of the Toronto Garbage
strike, you can see how quickly these issues can get out of controll.
The bigger the city, the bigger the firms involved, the more potential
impacts from labour disputes etc. Smaller cities, more flex, less
problems and costs.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
Taxpayers need to clearly understand that a merger will increase their
tax base should they want to merger. Study after study proves it. The
data is evident not only among merger documents but in many general
studies comparing the basic costs differences of larger and smaller
municipalities. Contracting firms know the tax base is larger for
bigger municipalities and the price difference of their contract jobs
reflects this.<br>
<br>
In spite of the overwhelming amount of data showing smaller cities are
more cost effective there apparently is no shortage of pre-merger
promises from companies itching to profit from a merger. They state
that costs will be reduced but the data to support these claims simply
doesn't exist when examining the per capita tax base. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>One of the most alarming examples of mergers that didn't
pan out is the City of Toronto. They're getting buried in debt. Here is
the latest report regarding their situation that was released in Feb
2010. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.irpp.org/po/archive/feb10/schwartz.pdf">http://www.irpp.org/po/archive/feb10/schwartz.pdf</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Right now 80% of Canada's infrastructure needs to be
replaced over the next 20 years, so a municipality, it is absolutely
vital we take the long term view in order to keep costs down. Smaller
cities means more competition among bidders and more flex for
municipalities and in the end, this creates the kind of
economic resilience we need in order to maintain a reasonable tax base
while maintaining our current quality of life. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>In the attachment is a correspondence I received from
Minister Bradley (MInister of Municipal Affairs and Housing) for your
reference regarding the merger question basically stating the vote is
non binding etc. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I just wanted to bring everyone up to speed on these
concerns and I encourage people to send a copy of this email to various
candidates for consideration. The more folks aware of these issues the
better!</div>
<div><br>
Louisette Lanteigne</div>
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<div><br>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
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Emil Frind
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1
519-885-1211 ext 33959
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:frind@uwaterloo.ca">frind@uwaterloo.ca</a>
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