The financial picture in Chatham-Kent seems to be getting more bleak by the hour at the moment, and if we’re not careful we’re going to be in very dire straits indeed.

It didn’t get much fanfare, but a recent report from council has drawn attention to the fact that there is a significant gap between what needs to be spent on maintaining and delivering current services and the funds that actually exist.

In his Oct. 21 report, Sean Hilderley, CK’s manager of asset quality and management, said over the coming decade there is a $407 million gap, which equates to $41 million each and every year.

That should have been more than enough to convince council that this is not the time for the municipality to be looking at a large and, in many people’s opinions, unnecessary investment.

With a current estimated price tag of $53 million, the proposed community hub in the former Sears building would not only be a significant capital investment, but by providing larger footprints for the civic centre and the library, would increase the ongoing costs of maintenance. operations and likely staffing as well, further increasing the $407 million gap.

Of course, maintaining our assets has not been a strong point in Chatham-Kent, and this is a problem that pre-dates the existing council, but if this isn’t a giant cautionary tale I don’t know what is.

This $407 million gap is just the tip of the iceberg, and points to an unsustainable situation in........

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