Truth in Property Taxes

Here's nifty one from the NY Times.... apparently US property owners are appealing their assessments in record numbers - an interesting ripple from the housing bust.

As a result, counties and states are seeing increase in their costs, as residents start ask for some truth in property assessment and appealing their taxes... Indeed, the article does point to one individual who as been forced to sell her antiques to pay the costs.

Though its hard to feel the same sympathy for some one who's hoiuse was assessed at $1.8M, but which is listed for $1.3M (and won't sell) - you can kind of feel her pain when she explains her property taxes at $53K a year.

Well, I can't really feel her pain, but I can imagine what it's like... of course, I also would also like to feel that pain while living in her house, but I digress.

The thing about people with $1.3M homes is they generally have the motivation - and the means - to appeal these assessments. And there are more of them than there used to be. And this will mean local governments diverting more resources to deal with appeals than before.

Meanwhile, those of us with $100K assessments will have to tighten our belts while the big assessments get appealed (diverting money from government services), get re-assessed (diverting money from government services) and finally assessed down (diverting even money from government services).

Nonetheless, when I look at my own property tax assessment, and try to figure out what it is based on, I have to scratch my head. It might be time for some transparency and truth in property assessments, on both sides of the border.

Drinking poison in my tea

The nastiest political insults... quite tame by any standard, but interestingly, all from conservatives.. find them here.

Shuffling staff

Harper's unique approach to staffing ministers' office is taking another interesting twist, so reports the Hill Times.


Apparently, PMO is now considering not simply shuffling ministers, but staff as well. And some of the staff are unhappy about this.


Looking back, I am not entirely certain how I might have reacted to that. On the one hand, even exempt staff are paid by the CRF, but on the other, not everyone reports or is accountable to the Prime Minister.


It's this notion of 'report' and 'accounability' that are fundamental. In simple terms, executives in any organisation delegate hiring (and firing) to managers. It means staff report to managers and managers report to executives. It saves the executive from getting stuck in day-to-day issues, and allows them to focus on the strategic vision and execution.

I am not certain the new model in Canada new government is such a good idea. While I am certain it appeals to the control monkeys who currently swing from the branches in the Langevin Building, it is a recipe for short term blame for longterm pain.

The pain will come from a number of sources. First, their own cabinet.

Imagine a job where everything you did had the potential to wind up in the news, in front of your friends and your family. And imagine that in your last job, you had likely been quite successful. And imagine to get that job, you had to get through a 36 day job interview with 40,000 shareholders who retain the right to fire you in public every few years.

Next, imagine for this big job, the first thing they tell you is that you don't get to hire anyone who will work for you, support you and protect you. In fact, you staff will owe their own loyalty to your boss, not you.

Would you leave whatever successful career you had to take that job? Would you have any faith in the people on your staff?

The second bit of pain will come from staff. Already, the Tories have had trouble filling positions as anyone with a career is concerned about post-employment restricitictions.

Those who are already there know that after politics, the crime of running a hot dog stand outside a government buiding would result in 300 hundred years of hard labour unde the Federal Accountability Act; now they aren't sure who they work for...

If I were in the Harper PMO, I might focus on morale... and when I did, I might try using a feather instead of a whip.

Perez hilton vs Will.I.am

Wow.

The allegation is that Will.IAm of the Black Eyed Peas assaulted Perez Hilton outside a club on saturday night.

I will spare folks the blow-by-blow, but essentially Willy felt Perez was being a disrespectful blogger by not liking Fergie's latest single.

Perry, for his part, admits to antagonizing Willy to the point where he knew Willy would be... upset. Then, according to Perry, Willy's manager, clocked Perry. At this point, Perry did what any victim of violence would do.

He twittered.

Oh and then, he called the police. Toronto's finest from Division 52 responded.

Now the part worth blogging.

Watch this and this.

The two combattants have lauched a video battle, not only competing to provide their side of the story, but seemingly also to see who is the wierdest of the two in what sounds like a primary-school shoving match gone awry.

In fact, it's kind of like a backdrop to Grease without the good music, acting and plot.

Just plain odd.

Nortel - Hard to understand (or how Stephen Harper stands up for Finland.)

It's official, Nortel is done.

The Canadian tech giant has fallen, and its final gasp it balked on severance to laid-off employees and cut pensions. The shares will be de-listed, and as result, shareholders - many of whom are former employees - are unlikely to recieve a penny... but... luckily the company had $45M in loose change to ensure bonuses were paid to the executive team (one can only hope this was cash...and by cash, I mean cash, not cheques... direct deposit would be even better).

Successive executive teams have been a challenge for the company, and it was difficult to understand the CEO - who has declined any bonus beyond his $1.2M salary - who noted the bonuses were there to keep valuable employees and retain value.

Nonetheless, the hardest part to understand, was the federal government's refusal to provide loan guarrantees to the company beyond the $30M offered by EDC. If management was the problem, why not ask "WWOD?" (What Would Obama Do)

When Obama didn't like the management at a certain car company... poof - new CEO.

Still, only $30M appears to have been put on the table, and the Minister of Industry noted there were now other flagship technology entreprises in Canada, such as RIM... and Research in Motion.... and, uh, RIM. Oh, and also MITEL. Did we mention RIM?

Of course, as the Globe notes, the research investments alone from Nortel were about $1.8B a year (while RIM spends about $254M a year.) Research spending in Canada sit at about $34B a year but of that number, Canada already has among the lowest business investment in research ratios in the OECD and G7. It will likely go lower.

But the really, really, hard part to understand, was that in spite of the sizeable investment Nortel was making in Canada, the feds - who were only willing to offer $30M in short term loans to the Canadian company - have announced they will provide $300M in loan guarrantees to Nokia-Seimens to purchase $650M worth of Nortel....

In short, the feds won't help a Canadian company in trouble, but they will backstop a foriegn company to buy a Canadian company and subsidize another corporate headquarter move to outside Canada.

And before anynoe suggests the business is outdated, doomed to fail, and part of a dissappearing economy, I have two words: General Motors.

Stephen Harper, standing up for Finland.

Parenting Advice from Alberta

Shocking, or as we used to say in Alberta, "Quelle surprise"

An alternative to a summer election

The Liberals should go now. Why?

Because they have no other choice.

And here is why:

1. The NDP /BQ will lose seats to the Libs if an election were called today.

2. The NDP/BQ will continue to deal with issues of an election like your neighbours teenagers deal with their parent's getaway to the Barbados every year...

3. If Harper holds on this week, Parliament will rise in June and return in September.

In September, the government will schedule the fall session's opposition days, don't be too surprised if they are all coincidentally in December. As a result, its becomes quite difficult to topple the government until Christmas. And if the Libs do force a Christmas election, we could well be on husting during the Olympics. And if not Christmas and the Olympics, then during G8.... and if not then... well, the snow is melting and we are into the summer of 2010.

The alternative?

Vote with the government on the confidence motion, and demand an opposition day at the end of every month next fall.

Otherwise, I think we can safely let Minister Prentice start to measure the drapes at 24 Sussex and book his move for next summer.