The Editor,
Re. "Shopping list for surplus" (The Tri-City News, June 15).
When I read this headline and the sub-head ("PoCo manages budget surplus in 2011"), I thought, "Wow, this is great."
Then I read that this money will be used to pay for several projects that likely would not have been able to move forward this year - a wish list - and my emotions went from happiness to dismay.
Port Coquitlam council is treating this money as if it fell from the sky or was won in a lottery. This money is a surplus from money collected in taxes last year from PoCo residents.
I foolishly thought when I first read this headline that the surplus would naturally be used to ease the burden of next year's taxes. Once again, PoCo council has demonstrated it has lost touch with the reality of what its constituents are going through in these hard times. The fact is, most of us are struggling to feed, clothe and provide a roof over the heads of our families.
We all have wish lists of things we would like to have. We would all love to have a large amount of money fall from the sky to pay for these things. The reality is that it will not happen and this means we cannot afford our wishes - and the city can't at this time, either.
We can be sure that when it comes to deliberating next year's taxes, PoCo council will say due to rising costs, we will need more money or have to cut services. In the meantime, councillors will have spent last year's surplus of $858,000 - on a wish list.
Wayne Kilthau, Port Coquitlam
