The increase in costs will fall on citizens either due to increased taxes or due to the lack of participation in useful opportunities for professional development
This letter from Danny Coccimiglio was sent in response to a recent article on gas prices related to councilors and other city officials traveling to events outside the city.
City Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Shelley Shell said that due to the dramatic increase in gas prices, the mileage of 56 cents per kilometer should apply to all trips of 250 km or less made by personal vehicles.
The article also states that the cost of travel longer than 250 km will increase. It was also stated that the current model does not take into account the reimbursement of other travel-related personal vehicle costs, although these personal vehicle costs have not been further developed.
Paying 56 cents per kilometer, a return trip from Sault Ste. Marie to downtown Toronto (approximately 1,400 km) will cost $ 784 for gas recovery, and a trip back to and from Blind River would cost more than $ 160 for gas recovery before calculating the additional travel costs in the area. such as kilometers traveled for food. This also does not take into account any additional or personal activities that are performed on these trips.
I believe that the conferences and congresses that city staff have to travel to are useful and valid if they really have a beneficial impact on the components of the city of Sault Ste. Marie.
Due to the increased travel costs, it would be logical and responsible to determine whether the value of such trips and their usefulness are worth the increased financial costs for the people of Sault Ste. Marie.
It would also be useful for city officials to study the current process of tracking mileage in personal vehicles to ensure that unnecessary costs are not reimbursed.
As it was stated that all city departments will manage this change within their existing budgets, it is logical to think that these budgets will have to increase in the future due to increased costs.
The increase in costs will eventually fall on the city’s citizens, either through increased taxes or due to a lack of participation in useful professional development opportunities due to the costs involved.
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