Tip #10 A collection of somewhat related tips if you’re thinking of running in Salmon Arm’s fall local government election. Fin!

• Residents want to know you and trust you. How will you address those basic needs?
• Continually keep in mind the Who Does What jurisdictional chart (see below). IMHO, proposals to take on responsibility for matters that other levels of government are actually mandated to do is a recipe for fiscal disaster. It can be tempting to do so without a doubt but a local government’s main source of revenue is property taxation – not the income or sales taxes etc. available to those other levels of government. Property taxes are best used for judiciously funding things within the purview of the local government. For sure, actively advocate for the provision of those services from those other levels who are jurisdictionally responsible!
• Some soul searching: Do you want to be something or do you want to do something for your community? A trite question perhaps but what is it exactly that you want to accomplish? And no, criticism without pragmatic alternative ideas is unlikely to be a winning strategy.
• Listen up too: Attend council and/or Planning meetings or tune in to virtual meetings https://www.salmonarm.ca/96/Agenda-and-Minutes or review meeting recordings on the city’s YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@cityofsalmonarmbc
• Embrace continuous learning: Being in learning mode is a pre-requisite!
• Finally: Recognize that you may be working on completing ideas started by others who are no longer at the current table and that some of your own ideas may very well be completed by others after you’re gone. The underlying commonality is that it’s all about advancing ideas and policy for our community. Good ideas often need more time, effort and funding to come to fruition. *I’ve read this paraphrased concept elsewhere but now can’t find who I can attribute it to* It’s definitely accurate though!
• … and that’s a wrap for the Tips

Tip #9 Re-Inventing the Wheel … or Not

You’ll quickly realize that you’re not alone in looking for solutions to complex issues. Other local governments are facing many of the very same challenges and you likely don’t have to start off with re-inventing the wheel! Instead check out what other LGs are doing. Attend seminars & training to get up to speed on the issues and policy options already being discussed. It’s time well-invested. UBCM (Union of BC Municipalities) https://www.ubcm.ca/ was formed to provide not only a common voice for local government but also an important coordinating role. Lots of good work has likely already been done. Perhaps you’ll become a thought-leader as well. *Running for #SalmonArm council*

Tip #8 Managing Differences & Disagreements

You won’t always get the results you want no matter how correct you believe your position is. Decisions are made through majority votes. Continued re-litigation of an outcome or residual hard feelings because things didn’t go your way can be corrosive both to overall effective governance and your own health as well.

Are you committed to professional governance that reflects Respect & Dignity, Leadership & Collaboration, Integrity & Accountability and appropriate Confidentiality? Besides just stating “of course I will” during a campaign …

Continue reading “8 – Managing Differences & Disagreement” →

Tip #6(C) Getting Down to Brass Tacks about Property Taxes A handy metric…

… for estimating the impact of tax changes. A 1% change to the #SalmonArm property taxation rate for all tax classes equals ~ $250K in revenues. That’s it!

As per Tip 6(a), property taxes are the main source of #SalmonArm revenues. Here’re a few ways this metric is handy if you’re considering running for local government this fall.

Infrastructure, equipment and services are increasingly expensive.

There are many things that a city regularly needs: new equipment (a new fire truck costs well over $500K – key flow pumps for our water & waste systems cost millions of dollars each), annual paving is well over a million dollars, protective services is the largest budget function, principal & interest borrowed for initiatives are paid back annually and the list goes on & on. Plus, the annual rate of inflation for city goods and services is much higher than the inflation rate for regular folks based on what’s in our basket of required services.

The city does save over time for big spends by judiciously putting funds into reserve but there are many immediate and necessary demands that require more immediate annual funding. If you’re campaigning on increasing or decreasing services …

Continue reading “6(c) Getting Down to Brass Tacks about Property Taxes” →

Tip 6(b) Here’re the budget functions that #SalmonArm taxation funds. If you’re running for council, you need to understand (& have a stance on) these allocations. In general, there’s a continuous call from the public to spend *more* in all the major functions. You’ll be adopting the 2027 budget shortly after you get elected. Chart is from this current budget year. The relative ratios stay fairly consistent year-to-year.