Clawbacks happen when a deal changes and those holding the upper hand claw back what was the case for some time. It even sounds painful.
For the Township of Centre Wellington, The Grand River Agricultural Society and related parties like the horse groups that host a gaming facility, the deal is changing in favour of the province.
The adoption of a new accounting regime based on international standards is being blamed.
For the municipality, it amounts to a loss of $69,000 per year. In the grand scheme of things, that is not a lot of money, but it is something that will have an impact on the area. Right or wrong, that impact could be felt in smaller organizations when the township reviews its budget for 2012.
Arguably, for the many groups that depend on township dollars for part or all of their funding, that provincial move could be considered the cause of a municipal clawback of sorts, too.
In order to get around this, and the changes forced by adopting new rules, the province could, in its role as the upper hand, decide to increase the cut handed out to its hosts. But as many in our article about the changes lament, this is, in essence, another provincial tax grab.
Our larger fear moving forward is that this is another sign of the times – where upper level governments requiring more liquid money have little choice other than to clawback, or increase income taxes, or cancel programs.
The News was offset today by a provincial announcement that all is getting better in Ontario. Increases in job counts, new programs and so on were offered as proof that the road to recovery is all but paved for progress. Oddly, businesspeople in various industries tell a different tale.
The price of gas, groceries and other items has put a damper on spending power. Certain industries are also seeing sluggish sales, and for workers that have found new jobs, the salaries might not be as lucrative as their pre-recession income. Everyone has to do what they have to do – after feeling a very personal clawback of sorts.
While we have confidence that a more optimistic mood will hit with better weather, it seems a little disingenuous to declare good times are full speed ahead, when clawbacks form part of the News coverage, too.
