Our History

Concerned Owen Sound Taxpayers (C.O.S.T.) was created in May 2014 by Bill Stobbe in response to poor leadership, an anti-growth attitude at City Hall, high property taxes, and stagnant growth. To address these issues, Bill recruited several prominent business owners to join the new group to provide solutions to these problems. COST advocated for dropping Development Charges (DCs) to zero to spur development and replacing the City Manager. C.O.S.T. quickly grew to include a wide variety of residents from all walks of life, including teachers, several business owners, a lawyer, an accountant, and even a politician.

To be honest COST's 2014 endorsements did not produce all of the changes we had hoped to see. Looking back, it is possible that our selection process placed too much emphasis on individual issues rather than on the broader leadership and organizational changes required to move the City in a different direction.