This might be the year to do the unthinkable and look at reducing municipal services - if that's what it takes to cut the proposed 5.5 percent increase in Centre Wellington's tax levy to something closer to zero.
Why "unthinkable"? Because in an election year, no councillor is going to go on the record cutting back services, and because many taxpayers don't understand how little of their tax bill actually translates into services the municipality has control over.
But if there was ever a time to cut back, it's now.
Centre Wellington has weathered the recession remarkably well, compared to other places. We did not see multiple closings of large businesses, a rush of home foreclosures or huge unemployment.
However, factory and business cutbacks and closures in places like Guelph and Kitchener-Waterloo, General Motors' downsizing and troubles in the entire auto sector, and rounds of downsizing in other businesses have had an impact. The Centre Wellington Food Bank, and Wellington County Social Services have experienced big increases in client numbers.
When businesses were faced with revenue shortages, they cut back. People were laid off. Remaining staff were asked to do more, as the work of those leaving was spread among those remaining.
Government doesn't run that way. Unlike business, their source of revenue isn't affected by supply and demand - or choice - or the quality of the product. People still have to pay taxes whether the roads are collapsing, the health care system is falling apart, or the military has to borrow Italian batteries to make its planes fly.
If Centre Wellington was a business, the $300,000 revenue it's lost through provincial grant cutbacks would mean staff layoffs, not going ahead with some internal projects, cutting back on "office expenses" and suffering other cutbacks members of the business world are probably all too familiar with after months of recession.
Instead, the township is looking in its draft budget at a 5.5 percent tax increase and a new "tax" for sidewalks - the latter justified by the need to build more.
It's a real need, but nobody's suggested a sidewalk area rating charge to cover construction costs until now.
We agree with Ward 5's Walt Visser, who says it's time to start talking about what services (and service upgrades) we can live without.
The discussion has to be serious, though. A call for local government service cuts is usually met by suggestions like chopping winter road maintenance, or not paving rural roads, or not cutting grass in parks and sports fields all summer … as if essential services that are obviously going to raise a storm of protest are the only ones the township has any jurisdiction over.
If a one percent increase in township taxes equals $84,000, then to reduce the current draft budget increase to 1.5 percent means finding $336,000 to cut out of $17.7 million in expenses in the tax-supported operating budget.
Most people would probably think that's possible. Most people likely wouldn't be too upset with a 1.5 percent increase, if they couldn't have zero.
We'll have to wait and see.