Council dotted the "i"s and crossed the "t"s on the 2004 budget this week.
The five-year financial plan put together by council is a historic one. For most residents it will result in a municipal tax bill this year that will be very close to what was paid last year. Some people, like me and most of the members of council, will pay more thanks to property assessments that went through the roof last year.
I don't mind paying more and I'm thankful that the extra amount I will pay this year is a manageable amount.
So, while I like what I see in the current five-year plan one budget item that council is excited about is troubling me.
The proposed youth gym, which is to be located close to the new RCMP building, is a significant expense that wasn't studied and might not be needed.
I completely agree with council members when they say that we need to offer young people as many possible activity options as we can. I don't agree that this proposed facility is the right way to make that happen.
By putting the youth gym on Finch Drive it is being located in a place that is considered driving distance for the vast majority of local residents.
I like the idea of young people walking to their local school as opposed to driving to the other side of town for their chosen gym activity. We are too reliant on our vehicles and this will be one more thing putting us into our cars and trucks.
Council argues that the schools are already being well used; however, it appears to me that the school in my neighbourhood is under utilized. What we need before we spend a huge sum of money on another gymnasium is a better use of the school facilities. Don't think for a moment that achieving this is easy - it isn't.
Spending our way to a solution, on the other hand, without really understanding the costs is easy. It is also poor use of tax dollars.
It is too bad the District of Squamish and School District 48 officials can't sit down and come up with a plan that allows inexpensive, supervised and reasonable evening access to the school gyms so kids can shoot hoops, play floor hockey or kick around a soccer ball.
The money being spent this year and next year on the new gym could have gone a long way to finding a way to make better use of the facilities that are already in place and within walking distance of our homes.
Youth gym aside, cross your fingers and hope Squamish's real estate value windfall continues so your property tax bill doesn't skyrocket.
