Letters to the editor...`Development charges cat' let out of bag

Dear editor, The February 3 Independent & Free Press story on the Town's budget let the cat out of the bag. Those who didn't follow it over to page 3 missed an important fact. Councillor Bob Inglis raised the issue and Treasurer Ed DeSousa confirmed it: new development is a net drain on our finances. As a taxpayer I have often wondered if we were losing as we added more subdivisions. I have even sat through presentations by developers who said with the Town needing more services that 1,000 additional acres should be included in the urban boundary so that development charges could bail us out financially. Fortunately, our council was too sharp to fall for that story. `"It's a known fact in the municipal world that development does not pay for development," agreed DeSousa. DeSousa also noted that assessment growth does not cover even all the base budget costs.' Let's tuck that little fact away for the next time we have someone trying to push a subdivision that is not truly needed. Barbara Halsall, Georgetown