We wanted to reinforce the importance of this Thursday’s meeting regarding the sale of Midland's PUC and to this end have ‘cut and paste’ the information from our latest midlandcommunity.ca update.
Sale of Midland PUC
Consider attending the public meeting at the NSSRC on June 1st at 6:00 pm regarding the sale of Midland PUC. Town administration will be disclosing details of the sale and seeking input from residents on how to turn the sale proceeds into a financial legacy that can benefit the Town for generations to come.
Some concern was expressed at Council about the “loss” of the annual dividend the MPUC was “paying” the Town. But there is no “free” money. Yes, money was being transferred from the PUC to the Town but Midland PUC customers and Midland taxpayers are pretty much the very same people. So that was like taking money from your own left pocket to transfer it to your right pocket. With the PUC sale there may be a period of adjustment while Midland weans itself off the dividend but there is no real loss to the ratepayer/taxpayer who will now enjoy the income the sale proceeds generate.
We would also to make the following correction from our last ‘May Council Report” newsletter.
Re: 2017 tax increase, first paragraph,
”This results from big reductions in the amounts being charged to Midland taxpayers for Simcoe County services (-1.2%) and for education (-6.6%)”.
