I am totally opposed to the proposed 0.5 per cent tax increase to fund TransLink for many reasons. TransLink is squandering tons of money. They are getting money from so many sources, including 17 cents per litre of gas, 21 per cent on parking, a transit levy charged on Hydro bills as well as from property taxes. It is a bottomless pit. I've also heard stories, from reliable sources, of TransLink hiring more staff when the current staff was underutilized.
Has anyone else has noticed that the people who are pushing for the 0.5 per cent increased sales tax to fund TransLink are mostly people who are earning six-figure incomes? For example, the mayor of Vancouver rakes in $155,612 per year, the mayor of Coquitlam took home $128,987 plus $16.449 in expenses (2013 figures) and the mayor of Surrey collected $122,475 plus $14,356 in benefits in 2013. I've heard that they are also spending anywhere from several hundred thousand dollars to $8 million of our tax dollars to promote the Yes vote . They won't say how much they are spending. I don't pay taxes to be used in such wasteful ways and for mayors to promote their own biases.
I guess if you are earning a six-figure income, a 0.5 per cent increase is a drop in the bucket. However, if you are a low-income earner or a senior on a fixed income, the increase in tax could make a significant difference in the quality of your life. And the other concerning factor is that there is no guarantee that it won't go up to one, 15 or even two per cent or more. Once it's here, it's here to stay and we will have absolutely no say in whether it goes up or how much it will increase. And, as we all know, there is PST charged on almost everything.
I find it repugnant that TransLink has replaced the CEO, but he is still earning the astronomical salary that he was before ($468,000 per year), and the new interim CEO gets $35,000 per month. So we are paying two CEOs exorbitant sums of money-twice the money for what? The monthly salary of either one is twice the yearly income of seniors on a fixed income and probably higher than that of many low-income earners.
Before we are asked to shell out even more money to a badly broken system, I think they need to take a good look at where TransLink is wasting money and eliminate this waste. Common sense tells you that if you have a hole in a bucket, the answer is to repair it and not just keep pouring more water into it. Unfortunately, common sense seems to be sadly lacking within TransLink and among those who are pushing for this increased tax.
We may need to improve the transportation system in the Lower Mainland, but jumping into this without repairing the defective system or having all the information up front is not the way to go.
I strongly encourage everyone to give serious consideration to how your life will be impacted if the 0.5 per cent increase is approved. It has been suggested that if TransLink only saved 0.5 per cent a year, they could fund this whole project without inflicting this extra tax upon the taxpayers. I will be voting No and hope others will do likewise so that we don't add another tax which will probably continue to escalate on a regular basis for the rest of our lives.
L. Mackintosh, by email
