Steve McGuinness
Special to Niagara Now/The Lake Report

In a local radio interview last week, Coun. Maria Mavridis recapped the year 2025 by reciting a list of council accomplishments. Holding the 2026 tax hike to 2.19 per cent “to keep affordability front of mind” was one.

But the harsh reality is that our approved budget raises operating costs another 7 per cent this year, masked by raiding reserves from our accumulated surplus.

This week, a 2024 asset management plan report was tabled at town hall. It recommends raising our taxes 2.4 per cent each and every year for the next 20 years for capital investments required to close an infrastructure deficit.

This means that from 2027 to 2047, our town’s tax hikes need to exceed this year’s 2.19 per cent to fund capital improvements, even before considering operating costs.

Does anyone else feel hoodwinked in a municipal election year?

The town portion of our property tax bills have actually increased at an almost 30 per cent compound clip over this council’s term, with only around 16.4 per cent of that attributable to inflation. Even the resurgence in parking revenues since COVID could not offset this rapid and massive spending spree.

Our home values have dipped around 30 per cent over this same period, according to the Niagara Association of Realtors. So we’re now paying 30 per cent more on an asset worth 30 per cent less. This fiscal irresponsibility this term kneecaps our future councils, leaving them little manoeuvring room going forward.

I led a thorough analytical review of 2026 town budget for the NOTL Residents Association. It isolated 28 specific recommendations for improvement. I also provided councillors with an itemized list of annual savings adjustments totalling $3.2 million.

In reply, the lord mayor, Gary Zalepa, dismissed my effort and attacked my professional competence. He wrote: “When you hide behind some claim of prior financial expertise and provide advice/suggestions that are not sound, that is unprofessional.”

Meanwhile, Coun. Mavridis was one of three councillors (along with Couns. Tim Balasiuk and Wendy Cheropita) who failed to propose even a single budget amendment at a Nov. 17 special council meeting.

There, council passed only three budget amendments totalling $66,325 against our $44-million budget. This pathetically futile effort fell well short of the required mark. They used a putty knife to remodel a budget requiring a sledgehammer.

Meanwhile, the regional portion of our tax bill will remain uncertain until Feb. 5. We are trending toward a 6.98 per cent increase.

At a Jan. 8 meeting, Zalepa raised a point of order challenging a motion to defer budget finalization — on the grounds it strayed off the published agenda. The meeting chair and clerk overruled his objection explaining committee agendas are always subject to amendment.

He ought to grasp that basic procedural rule by now given the “15 years of municipal council experience and four years as region budget chair” he cited in his aforementioned nastygram to me.

Back on Nov. 20, Zalepa also persuaded regional council to waive a more-than $900,000 development charge on the Parliament Oak hotel’s second floor of its parking garage. This generosity set a fiscally destructive precedent.

When confronted with the chasm between that $900,000 and the $5,000 “slap-on-the-wrist” fines assessed for 10 days of violations at the hotel construction site, he questioned the linkage. So, he’s effectively sanctioning gifts to multimillionaire developers that ignore our rules with impunity.

He has also declined comment on an ombudsman complaint filed about that $900,000 relief. All regional councillors received the legal analysis underlying the NOTL Residents Association complaint. The lord mayor actually replied privately to NOTLRA founder Stuart McCormack about it, writing: “During your time as (an) elected council member, past examples of you providing legal opinion to NOTL council have been directly connected to recent settlements, not in favour of the town.”

There is some comfort, but no joy, in another professional being targeted by an unnecessary Zalepa personal attack when volunteering advice.

The Niagara Police Services Board has also resisted a $2.7 million cut from its $236.9 million budget, insisting every cent of its 11.5 per cent hike is necessary to maintain effective policing. The concerns regional Coun. Andrea Kaiser raised about fairer police cost sharing remain unresolved.

So, we must now bear even more exorbitant policing costs as the lowest use consumers of policing.

As for its effectiveness, it has been nine months since the Glencairn fire without any arson investigation leads emerging.

Steve McGuinness, CPA, is retired from a career in financial management on Bay Street. He holds degrees in political science and business administration. He offers reflections on public policy issues within our community. stevemcguinness94@gmail.com