I normally try not to do enraged posts, but every once in a while an issue comes up.  The town identified upgrade of Nassagaweya Tennis Club as one of the high priority shovel-ready project and applied for stimulus funding. It got it.  Federal and Provincial governments will contribute just under $2 million while the town will chip in with another $1 million. 

Sounds good, right?  Wrong!  Here’s why :-

1. 1. The club is not getting any additional tennis courts. Its members will have same number of courts.  Huh?  $3 million and not even an additional court!  As far as maintaining exist courts go, the town already pays half the cost of resurfacing tennis courts.
2. Nassagaweya Tennis Club has less than 200 members (not a typo).  Why is the town spending $15,000 / member (total $3 million) when the money is so badly needed elsewhere?  If the town is so flushed with money then why does it not just give some of it back to the tax-payers?
3. The money will go towards the demolition and replacement of a building on site.  Will the town still collect $100 in rent for the entire year, or will the rent reflect the true cost? 
4. The money will also re-align the three tennis courts from east-west to face north-south to reduce sunlight glare issues.  Sweet!  The hospital is a disaster, roads are gridlocked but hey … those less than 200 people should not have to put up with sunlight glare when paying tennis.  On top of this the town also shares operating costs, including paying all electric bills and clubhouse interior upgrades and half the cost to resurface tennis courts.
5. The club’s president, Jim Harding, said anyone within the town of Milton is welcome to become a resident.  Oh gee, thanks.  I think people already voted with their wallets when less than 200 decided to become members.  Why don’t they join other tennis facilities in the town or pay more so their tennis doesn’t have to be subsidized by others?
6. Rural residents pay a lower property tax-rates than urban residents do (many Miltonians don’t know this fact).  This is because rural residents do not want to pay for services that only urban residents receive.  So I ask, is this money raised only from Nassagaweya residents?  If not then why not just have the same tax-rate for all of Milton? 

If the money had to be spent on tennis then the town could have built courts where a large number of tax-payers could benefit from them.  When you live in a high-population-density-area-where-you-can-high-five-your-neighbour-without-either-of-you-leaving-your-homes then you trade open spaces for access to more facilities (because the cost gets divided among a larger tax-base).  Similarly, people who live in rural areas opt for open spaces and all the goodness of country life that us urbanites miss out on.  However, they do have to travel to use facilities because the population density in rural areas often does not justify the expenditure.  It is completely absurd for several dozen people to expect this sort of subsidy from the town and it is equally absurt for the town to provide it. 

Moreover, it’s okay for the town to subsidize a library or a public park because a business case does not exist for a profitable library or public park (not a reasonbale one at least). However, there are plenty of profitable sports clubs.  As such, the town should only build sports facilities if it expects to run them at a no-loss situation.  If members using a facility cannot even pay for the on-going cost then it’s a good indicator that running such a facility does not make economic sense. A better use of money is to stop throwing money after such activities. 

The part of Milton I live in has more than 10,000 residents and we do not have a single neighbourhood park (we do have two dirt fields that will get developed into a park at some point in the future).  There are a number of badly needed road projects in Milton that the town is responsible for.  The money could have gone there.

Heck there is the often mentioned Hospital that could use some money.  If nothing else then the town could build the hospital a parking lot so people wouldn’t have to fork out close to $10 for parking on top of spending 5 hours in the waiting room.

In this economy I am sure Miltonians wouldn’t mind getting a rebate cheque from the town if it could not find a better use for money.

But in the worst recession in living memory the town found it necessary to spend this much needed money to subsidize tennis for such a small number of residents!  I counted and there are more than 200 people on my street.  Should we get a private tennis club of our own too?

If you agree with me that this is a waste of tax-payer money then please join me and leaving a note to your councillor.  Follow this link and ask the town clerk to forward the message to the  entire Council.  You may also call or email them directly, which is always better.  Their phone numbers and e-mail addresses are here.