Keep Sooke on track of steady progress to a sustainable future
Rick Kasper would like to see the next Sooke Council continue its progress delivering on needed services and infrastructure without huge tax increases.
“We’ve made great strides getting our fiscal house in order while providing more funding for roads, sidewalks, police and fire services, all without huge tax increases,” Kasper said.
“I’ll be running again for council to continue that progress. This is not the time to go back to past practices of big tax increases and building more bureaucracy. We’ve taken steps to get better value for tax dollars and made changes to give better service to our customers. There is still more to be done to keep this steady progress on track to a sustainable and prosperous future for the people, services and businesses of Sooke. Taxpayers tell me they don’t want local government viewing them as an ATM machine.
“We shifted spending to be more in line with community priorities: increased fire protection and police budgets, invested in new road construction, new trails, sidewalks and park improvements, added a new honorarium for volunteer firefighters, continued support for local community and volunteer organizations, with some of the budget set aside for a community facility. We accomplished this with zero tax increase the first year, 1.59 per cent the second year and only 0.2 per cent increase this year.
“We brought in more transparent and open processes. We worked to get better value out of your hard earned tax dollars with new contracting policies that are fair and emphasize local suppliers to help create and keep jobs in Sooke.
“I have been honoured to serve with council colleagues Berger, Haldane, Pearson, Reay, Tait and Mayor Milne and work with the District’s professional and knowledgeable staff to make the tough changes and do what we can afford to put us on this track. I am very proud of our accomplishments over the past three years and I hope voters will choose to see us continue to move forward.”
Rick Kasper has a long history of service to the community and a track record of delivering for Sooke. On Sooke council from 2011-2014 he chaired the Finance and Administration Committee leading Council’s fiscal responsibility initiatives and served on the Community Grants Committee. Before that he served as councillor from 2005-2008 and as MLA for the area from 1991-2001.