Richmond Warden Defends Tax Increases and Spending Decisions in County Budget

STRAIT AREA - A new Richmond County municipal budget containing rarely-seen tax increases, a local school system's efforts to adjust to the end of COVID-19 mask mandates, and the kickoff to Pride Month celebrations in the Strait of Canso highlight this week's TELILE 24/7. 

We begin the show at 1:25 with a feature on the raising of the Pride Flag in front of the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre on the afternoon of June 1. Overseen by Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton and Port Hawkesbury Pride Facilitator Taylor Linloff, the flag-raising was followed by a walk downhill along the town's Active Transportation Trail to the town fountain in Grant's Pond, where a dozen LGBTQI+ community members and their supporters laid rocks painted with Pride colours and themes on the rim of the structure that will be known as the "Fountain of Love" throughout this month's Pride celebrations in the town. 

The 10:18 mark sees Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette sitting down with TELILE 24/7 host Adam Cooke in the Telile studios in Arichat, less than 18 hours after Mombourquette and her four fellow municipal councillors unanimously approved a 2022-23 municipal budget that will include four-cent increases on each of the residential and commercial tax rates. The warden defended the increases by noting that the cost of such provincially-provided services as education and policing has taken a steep jump in the past year. As well, Mombourquette noted that council has chosen strategic spending strategies such as an increase in the funds provided to not-for-profits and community groups, as well as a feasibility study to determine whether the county can replace the aging Richmond Arena with a new recreation facility over the coming decade.

At 34:02, the director of the Strait Regional Centre for Education, Paul Landry, discusses the state of the local school system now that mask mandates have been lifted as of May 24 and all other gathering-limit protocols have disappeared across Nova Scotia since March 21. Landry noted that absenteeism among students and teachers in the final weeks of the 2021-22 academic year have been tangible but not disruptive to the classroom process, and added that he is looking forward to seeing proms and graduation ceremonies return to their normal status later this month. 

Special TELILE 24/7 Pride Month segments featuring Port Hawkesbury Pride Facilitator Taylor Linloff and host Adam Cooke round out this week's show, airing at 31:10 and 47:56.