Wedding at City Hall

I walked to the park surrounding City Hall a few months ago and came across this scene. No, this is not a gay marriage. The smiling groom is just behind the photographer. It was a warm sunny Saturday with few people around to interrupt the photo session. I was a good ways off and took this with a telephoto lens, making sure not to be seen as competition to the photographer.
Our city is in dire need of money. The infrastructure is deteriorating and the cost of services such as policing and fire protection keep escalating. The mega projects of last year are being paid for in installments and are running deficits. There is talk of raising municipal property taxes. Of course, the taxes increase every year, but almost always by more than the rate of inflation. There is also talk of a 2 cent a litre gasoline tax. The list of taxes intruding into our personal budgets continues to grow, and yet the average person has not seen an increase in his pay. This amounts to a decrease in the standard of living.
When we, in our household budget overspend, we have to compensate. When the price of utilities or staples increases, we have to sacrifice the unnecessary for the necessary. We have no choice. But, the city, or any level of government for that matter, does not have to do this. They simply add more taxes. Something will eventually give. Tax revolt, decrease in services, a new mayor and council, or perhaps taxing wedding photographers in the park.