Dear Mr. Vance,
Thanks for compiling the list of the Meaford budget statistics in the Independent.
The one glaring omission was the total dollar amount of the budget which would provide the actual numbers of the other increases and percentages.
There is also the matter of the non-disclosure agreement that all employees are forced to sign, which hamstrings any employee who witnesses extravagant or even illegal expenditures, but can’t report them on pain of loss of job and prosecution.
Thanks for your efforts.
Nick Furgiuele, Bognor
Editor’s Note: Apologies for the oversight. The numbers have yet to be finalized, but the overall tax supported municipal budget for 2025 is roughly $19.95 million ($14.58 million tax supported operating budget, $5 million tax supported capital budget along with a tax supported reserve levy of $347,820). As I have noted in all budget articles and editorials, all budget information can be found on the municipal website www.meaford.ca/budget. As for your comment about municipal staff “forced into signing non-disclosure agreements”, after speaking to some municipal staff members over the weekend, they are not aware of this, unless you are referring to staff signing confidentiality agreements as some municipal staff have access to personal information, which would not be uncommon, but certainly something I will look into.
