The Cambridge businessman behind a recent code of conduct complaint against the mayor is taking his concerns a step further after the city's integrity commissioner concluded Jan Liggett did nothing wrong when she announced the city's 2024 tax hike was below the rate of inflation.
Scott Sinclair lodged his complaint soon after Liggett and the city released a statement in February announcing the 2024 budget and a property tax increase under the then-3.4 per cent rate of inflation.
The actual tax hike was 7.1 per cent but, as the city's chief financial officer Sheryl Ayres explained, when considered as the weighted portion in the overall tax bill, the city's tax increase is equal to 2.58 per cent.
The city's portion of the tax bill only makes up 26 per cent of the overall property tax bill, which is shared with the Region of Waterloo and school boards.
Meghan Cowan of the law firm Aird & Berlis LLP dismissed Sinclair's complaint after Liggett told her it was her belief the tax hike was well below the rate of inflation. Liggett maintained she was transparent in stating the overall increase was 7.17 per cent in a news release.
"We find that the Mayor’s comments were made in good faith and in reliance on the City professional staff," reads Cowan's report. "We find no intent to deceive the public or make intentionally misleading statements."
But Sinclair says using a weighted comparison is irrelevant and it's simply not true to say the tax hike is below inflation when it clearly isn't.
"Anyone with high school math" should know better, he says. "If the mayor and the CFO and the city manager don't understand this, then clearly the people of Cambridge have a lot to worry about who is taking care of the city."
Sinclair, who is a CPA, filed a complaint against Ayres with the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario.
He also filed a complaint with the Law Society against Cowan for not concluding in the integrity commissioner's report that the mayor's statements are "categorically false."
The Ontario Ombudsman has also been tasked to investigate Liggett, Ayres, city manager David Calder and the "eClerk" "for making false statements and failing to correct false statements."
"It's wilful negligence and wilful misconduct," Sinclair says, adding it was the intent of city staff to "stuff the increase through" in a way that everyone in city hall would benefit from because they increased wages by 8 per cent.
"They're trying to groom people into thinking they're fiscally responsible," he said. "It's as close to fraud as you can get."
Aird & Berlis lawyer John Mascarin, who manages the city's file as integrity commissioner on code of conduct complaints and is also named in the complaint to the Law Society, said he and Cowan have nothing to hide.
He said he welcomes the opportunity to explain the reason for the decision should the Law Society choose to examine their investigation of the complaint against Liggett.
Mascarin said the law firm has complied with a number of Ombudsman complaints in the past and believes that's who Sinclair should expect results from if there is any reason to look deeper into the city's actions.
The city did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
Sinclair said he has replies for all his complaints and expects to hear follow up from the Ombudsman once their investigation is complete.
