A small group of concerned taxpayers in Turner Valley is determined to make a difference in how the community is run.
The Turner Valley Ratepayers Association, which has been in the making since March, is in the process of applying for society status.
Todd Williams, who is on the group’s board of directors, said it plans to take a professional approach to addressing the concerns of high taxes and what it sees as unnecessary spending.
“This came about from general discussion with various residents of Turner Valley,” he said. “There’s a lot of issues here. Part of what’s driving this is we are seeing families and people struggle. We are trying to help our community.”
The five-member board of directors includes business owners and a former town councillor, said Williams.
“This is something we should have all been doing a long time ago,” he said. “Ratepayers and taxpayers have been negligent. People are more interested in hockey games than politics.”
The Turner Valley resident of 25 years said taxpayers need to pay attention to how money is being spent and how the Town is being run.
“We have a very spendy group of administration and mayor and council who like to spend tax dollars,” he said. “We need to have a counter balance and voice in the community to push back. There is no formal opposition for municipalities.”
Mayor Kelly Tuck said she is aware of the association, but council has yet to be approached by the group formally during a council meeting.
Tuck said she will reserve from commenting on the association until the introduction takes place and she has more information about the ratepayers group.
The taxpayers group created a website with information on town spending, questions for council and comparisons with other Alberta municipalities.
Williams said the board of directors will focus on some key issues – mostly around costs – and wants to see the association become an ongoing non-profit organization that works on behalf of taxpayers.
For board of director Gary Roundtree, who served as a councillor from 2007 to 2010, it’s all about working with the mayor and council.
“Part of our role is to be the eyes and ears for them and hopefully the decisions that they make will be in the best interest of the ratepayer,” he said. “We are here to support the mayor and council, we are not here to work against them.”
Roundtree said in the 30 years he’s lived in Turner Valley’s he’s watched property taxes rise above inflation.
“The town is becoming a very expensive place to live,” he said. “Yes, they can use the excuse that there isn’t the commercial base to be able to offset it. When I was on council one thing that was clear to me was growth helps spread out the tax base. With the additional growth and tax base the millrate should have been lowered. That didn’t happen.”
Roundtree he said he’s concerned with some of the decisions being made at the administration and council level, such as purchasing heavy equipment. When he was on council, he said an agreement was made that the Town would contract equipment from the MD.
“Listening to a lot of residents in town who have known me as a councillor they’ve expressed their concerns about the cost of the increase in taxes, questioning the expenditures on the capital budgets when it comes to buying equipment and not getting a clear answer on how many staff there presently are,” he said.
Members of the Turner Valley Ratepayers Association will regularly attend council meetings, said Roundtree.
A ratepayers group was formed in Black Diamond about two years ago and member Glen Fagan was elected as the town’s mayor in this summer’s byelection.
Williams said all communities should have a ratepayers association.
“Every municipality should be looking at how are we being staffed, what are we paying in wages and salaries and benefits,” he said. “It would be interesting to do a comparison across the communities of similar size to see what the full time equivalent is for staff.”
For details about the Turner Valley Ratepayers Association go to turnervalleyratepayers.ca
