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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1995-12-27, Page 51 WPM 2Z NNOO • 7112 WINOMMADVANCENNES overnment competition Funding solutions `design translates into savings ground needs of students By PAT HALPIN Dear Editor: Ho hum, here they go once again rolling Ons the old excuse that they don't have enough:tttginey. • To make up for prdvincial trans fer cuts of $658 million over the next two years,. many municipal politicians are sending out trial bal- loons that services will have to be slashed or eliminated altogether, and that citizens should brace them- selves for higher property taxes and an onslaught of new user fees. How unimaginative can they be? Politicians can only spend a tax dollar once. But every time a dol- lar is wasted by them, it either de- prives taxpayers of services they should be getting or ends up cost- ing everybody more than they should be paying in taxes. Municipal governments that talk about cutting services or raising property taxes to offset the cuts in provincial transfer payments don't have a funding problem. They have a cost problem. Typically, their unit costs for the required quantity and quality of service are higher than necessary because they re above market prices. Although the pur- chase of tangible goods like road salt, computers, etc. are routinely subject to competitive tendering, their most expensive cost element - labour - is not subject to the com- petitive market. As a result, labour costs tend to be higher than necessary because of wages, salaries and benefits which are above market, archaic work rules that impede productivity, and excessive layers pf management andi larger than necessary staffs. ' The solution isn't better manage- tnent, because management isn't the problem. The problem is no competition, and the solution - mar- ket costs - is something that even the% best manager can't produce in a non-competitive environment. The answer to any municipal pol- itician who is talking about raising property taxes or cutting services is to tell them to get their fingers walking through the Yellow Pages. The results will be dramatic. No cuts and no tax increases. In fact, better service and substantially low- er costs is the guaranteed outcome. Experience south of the border has shown that when governments have adopted competition as the model for delivering public servic- es, savings of 20 - 40%, and in some instances 60 percent or higher can be achieved. Philadelphia, for example, has re- duced street maintenance and water department costs by 50% and nursing home costs by 53%. The City of Indianapolis has re- duced printing costs by 47%, street repairs and garbage collection by 25%, waste water treatment by 44% and vehicle fleet maintenance by 18% by simply using the Yellow • Pages test. ' Fire protection is competitively tendered in 10 U.S. states and the Netherlands. hi Scottsdale, Arizona, the private contractor provides su- Thanks for the support over the past year: CCS Dear Editor: As the new year approaches, this would appear to be a good time to inform the general public about the current status of the Huron -Perth • Unit of the Canadian Cancer Socie- • ty: At the end of our' fiscal year, Sep- tember 30, 1995, the unit had ,taken in revenues of $536,320 from a wide variety of sources. This sub- stantial amount reflects the generos- ity of the residents of Huron and ,Perth counties as well as the super- lative efforts of many volunteer fund raisers. Approximately half of the money raised by the Canadian Cancer So- ciety finances ongoing research; most of the remainder pays for pa- tient services and health promotion. Since so many families are affected in some way by cancer, these uses of revenue are beneficial to a great number of people in Huron and Perth counties. Looking ahead to the new year, we 'anticipate , continued financial support for 'our organization; how- ever, we do need more volunteers in all program areas as well as for leadership role§ on the branch and unit boards of directors (Clinton, Exeter, Goderich, Seaforth, Wing - ham, Stratford, Listowel, Mitchell, St. Marys)f If you wish to assist in any way, please contact the local nit OO office at 271-4270 or 1-800- �94 294-0086. We need you. Again, I would "like to express our deep appreciation to those who ha'e financially contributed to'the work of the Canadian Cancer Soci- ety, and to those many volunteers who help in a wide,,variety of tasks. Ken Varley, Communications Chairman and Interim Fundraising Chairman Why retain, separate system and not others Dear Editor: In the aftershock of the Harris government's drastic cuts to fund- ing of valuable social, medical, and cultural programs, we might en- dorse the dose of cold reality being administered to a society which has consumed more than it could af- ford. But why, in the great clean- up, did the Tories retain the separ- ate school system? Religious privilege stands naked- ly visible while valuable services grope for a shred of security. This rank injustice offends human val- ues and destroys the equitable dis- tribution of public dollars. Ontario premiers and education ministers, in succession, have claimed that the Canadian Constitu- tion renders them powerless to re- move this expensive, self-serving, ostentatious privilege. But the Con- stitution did not leave society shackled forever to the cleavage be- tween Roman Catholics and Protes- tants. Using a province's absolute power over education, Manitoba abolished its separate schools through a Constitutional provision 50 YEARS OF PROGRESS Since 1945, USC Canada has seccessfuliy invested In people in Africa and Asia. USC7Gr Ofly sono K1PS131 Canadal (813)2344827 PIEASI an! TOUR ILNSI TO USC IT ceuwa 140046Si USC stn 334.9335 ice OTTAWA CAM mefeemmeleseseeresirew 4 similar to Ontario's Section 93. Newfoundland is abolishing its multi -denominational school l sys- tem with a change in the Constitu- tion. These are legal precedents which offer workable alternatives for Ontario. In an omnibus bill introduced si- multaneously with the mini -budget on November 29, many sweeping changes will be made without pub- lic consultation. If the Tories can justify the use of such draconian legislation, they can also institute one public system of education in which there is no remaining vestige of ecclesiastical power. It is not an injustice to Roman Catholics to re- quire them to practice their faith as others do — i.e. in their homes, churches and voluntary institutions. They would lose exclusive political status and power, but, at over $250 million a year to maintain, they would lose a privilege which Onta- rio cannot afford. Their plan would be no different than that of others R.H. Patterson, Friends of Public Education Pembroke, Ontario perior service for 30% less than a municipal operation. . Transit systemsare being con- verted to competitive tendering throughout the developed world with cost savings ranging from 15 to 60 percent. In Crestwood, Illinois, the ratio of city staff to population has been reduced by more than 90% through competitive tendering. Many municipal services are still produced by public employees who found ways to improve 12 their cost effectiveness when faced with competition. Linda Morrison, Con- tract Administrator for Philadelphia put it this way Savings that wer- en't possible before, suddenly ma- terialize once you put a service out to bid. In Los Angeles, the mere threat of competitive tendering by the Mayor resulted in a 25 percent cost reduction. This Christmas give your • local politician who's preaching doom and gloom because of provincial transfer cuts a gift of reality. Leave him or her a personalized, gift- wrapped copy of Ma Bell's "Yel- low Pages" under the Town Hall Christmas Tree. Paul Pagnuelo Ontario Taxpayers Federation Ajax, Ontario Economic statement means cuts Bruce Co. learns of impact on their operating budget By PAT HALPIN Special to the Advance -Times The province's mini -budget will cost the Bruce Board of Education 20 per in grant cuts, trustees were told at their December meet- ing. g `This is shocking news, but on they other hand we have to be crea- tive," said outgoing Board Chair- man Don Stobo as he urged the in- coming chairman and ' finance committee to "handle it construc- tively" 1 A reduction in funding for Junior Kindergarten is a major component of the revenue loss. The board has the option of dropping JK or con- tinuing the program with a 40 per cent grant cut. For the Bruce Board, that means the grant for JK will drop to about $500,000 per year from the current $900,000. Grants for adult education also have been cut, while boards are be- ing urged to find "significant sav- ings" in busing, purchasing and ad- ministrative services. The Bruce board already shares buses and some professional development with Grey and separate boards and was to meet Dec. 13 to discuss oth- er means of cost-cutting. Stobo suggested the impact of grant cuts could mean a 20 per cent increase on the local mill rate, but Jennifer Yenssen, the new chair- man, rejected that option. "I can guarantee we will not im- plement a mill rate increase of that magnitude. We will find a way to make up the money or reduce ex- penses," she said. Director of-Ecfti'cation Paul Mar- tindale reassured employees and the community they will be con- sulted as the board decides how to handle what he described as "hor- rendous" cuts. "We're just saying let's be calm about this. In Bruce County, we've been through this kind of stuff be- fore and we'll do our very best to communicate and make sure we don't lose sense of our mission," Martindale said. wildlife.., What on earth would we do without Its 6, Canadian KA Wildlife Federation 2740 Oueensvlew Dr. Ottawa, Ont k28 1A2 1 -800.563 -WILD Special to the Advance -Times CHESLEY — The new chairman of the Bruce County Board of Educa- tion has vowed that solutions to the board's funding problems will be designed around the needs of stu- dents. Jennifer Yenssen urged board members to move swiftly on a re- cently -launched strategic plan, so that it can avoid "haphazard deci- sions" in the face of a financial crunch. She also said the board will continue efforts to share services, purchasing and professional devel- Internet access for Bruce students CHESLEY — A deal between a tele- phone company and the Bruce County Board of Education means 11,000 students will have Internet access during school hours. Bruce Municipal Telephone Sys- tem and the board have agreed to a project that will put Internet access in each elementary school, the Out- door Education Centre and three lines ineach high school. The pack- age will cost the board $16,500 a year. Superintendent David Armstrong said the Internet system can be used for teacher -to -teacher or school -to - administration centre communica- tion. "But the most exciting use will see students gain access to world- wide information." Armstrong said. Schools in the Kincardine and Port Elgin areas already are on line, while schools in the remainder of the county expect to be connected in the new year. opment with neighboring boards in an effort to reduce costs. The new chairman refused to predict how the recently -announced grant cuts will affect the board, but said, "If we do it the right way, you will not see if affecting the chil- dren. That, of course, is the ideal." Yenssen was acclaimed ' chair- man when Don Stobo declined to run for re-election. Yenssen was formerly vice chairman and is com- pleting her fourth year as a trustee. The Mildmay -area representative said "students come first" among board priorities and predicted there may be home-grown solutions to funding problems. "We don't want'to follow the ex- ample of large metro boards. We want to look at Our educational sys- tem in Bruce County and make de- cisions that are right for us," Yens- sen said. Frank Eagleson of Southampton is the board's new vice chairman. He has experience both as vice chairman and board chairman, hav- ing served in those capacities in 1986 and '87. He is completing his 13th year on the board. The former finance chairman agreed with Yenssen that the board must keep its mission statement in view as it deals with monetary cuts. "We are all feeling insecure at this time and somewhat anxious. The remedy is to keep communica- tions and partnerships open," Ea- gleson advised. Hillside Hearing Instruments E Gary J. Pietrek, Hearing Instrument Specialist & Technician Association of Hearing Instrument Practitioners of Ontario; Also - I.H.S., N.B.C.H.I.S. Qualified Full Service Hearing Aid Office Hearing Testing • Hearing Aids • Authorized Vendor & Dispenser • Prescriptions filled • All makes and models • On -the -spot Repair Lab - Most repairs within hours Hours: Tues. - Fri. 9 - 5; 302 Josephine Street, Wingham, across from Poet Office After hours appointments always available, - my home Is nearby 357-2326 HAPPY NEW YEAR ,b tit HAPPY NEW YEAR 1996 �1 May the corning year bring peace, prosperity and joy to our good friends everywhere. It's been a pleasure to know ycu and we eagerly look forward to your continued support. . Barry W. 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