Sparks speaks up about cautious use of taxpayer dollars

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Randy Sparks is a candidate for town council, and he has some clear ideas about what he believes will and won’t work at the municipal level. He responded to a Times request for his thoughts on housing, enforcement, infrastructure, and a new dry sport facility.

 “Affordable housing has been a very hot topic throughout the country for many years, Taber included. But unfortunately nothing has changed and actually has gotten much worse,” he began.

 “Council of the day instituted incentives using a percentage system of not paying the full price for taxes over a five-year period,” he said. “This did absolutely nothing to curb the affordable housing issue in Taber. It did nothing to help the low- to medium-wage earning family to be able to secure and afford housing.”

 From his perspective, it only helped those who already could afford housing or were developing rental units to defer paying taxes to a later date. “These developers and those that were building homes did nothing wrong, they just took advantage of a poorly thought out program that did nothing to address the real problem,” he said.

 In his opinion, those tax deferrals cost the Town of Taber much-needed tax revenues. He believes that affordable housing programs are beyond the scope of council, and that those are a “nationwide issue.”

 Sparks thinks council should retreat from initiatives related to the high costs associated with rent, groceries, gas, car prices, housing prices, insurance and “the cost of actually just trying to survive in today’s world of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. It just cannot be done.”

 Instead, council should focus solely on endeavours that can truly make a positive impact on residents and the community.

 On the traffic enforcement issue, he sees a serious, ongoing safety concern. “Vehicles and motorcycles are driving way too fast and are way too loud. Windows are being tinted to the point of being black and many traffic laws not being followed,” he said.

 He said the problem is “way out of hand” and the infractions are happening on a daily basis, but acknowledged that the infractions occur at random times and in random places.

 “The police service cannot be on every street corner and every street at the same time, but that does not mean that (they) throw their hands in the air and quit trying to enforce the laws that are in place,” he said. “The police service and our police commission need to take this safety issue very seriously and ensure that all residents feel safe and secure.”

 As for infrastructure upkeep and maintenance in Taber, Sparks said that every town, city and municipality in the country has aging infrastructure issues. While building new is an enticing option, he said keeping the Town’s facilities viable, safe, user-friendly, and cost-effective – with the least impact on taxation – is where the true cost of infrastructure happens.

 However, “I feel the Town has kept a very good handle on our aging infrastructure, buildings, and facilities. The greatest, most cost effective, user friendly, most used, and most beneficial piece of infrastructure with the least impact on taxation is the walking trail,” he said.

 On the topic of building a new dry sport facility, Sparks was wary and realistic. “Even though there are those that think this would be a very awesome venture, the true costs of building, maintenance, and financially running such a facility may come in at too high of a cost for the residents to handle through increased taxation,” he said.

 He wasn’t completely opposed to the idea and acknowledged that recreation facilities are essential in a thriving community. However, he cautioned that the spending deficits “must be borne by the residents through the taxation process.”

 “The building, maintenance, utilities, wages, and huge deficits all come at a very high cost to the residents,” he reiterated. “There is not a recreation facility in the country that is self-supporting through the revenues received through user fees or donations. These facilities are always supported by the taxpayer even if they never set foot in, or use, a recreation facility. They support the running of that facility.”

 Nevertheless, he conceded that if a dry sports field can be constructed and operated “with very little or no impact on the residents and taxes, then go for it.”