A commentary by the vice-chair of Grumpy Taxpayer$ of Greater Victoria

More than 10,000 Saanich residents made the effort to vote — during a few summer weeks — to block a $150 million loan request for a new operations centre.

The public, political masters and pundits are now wondering why those best-laid plans were rejected.

Are taxpayers fed up with the increasing tax load, or afraid the $150 million budget will balloon far above that figure?

Following decades of cost-plus budgeting, property taxes increased 8.02 per cent this year and the average five-year household estimated increase is 7.44 per cent.

To pay for the yard, the average homeowner would have seen a tax hike of 0.85% for the next four years. On top of that, water, sewer and solid waste utility bills are all going up seven or eight per cent annually during the five-year period.

Were........

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