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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1978-05-11, Page 15f Times-Advocate, May 11, 1978 Page 15 Huron F of A has heated debate on farm tax reform By Keith Roulston Despite emotional appeals that the Huron County Federation of Agriculture support the Ontario Federation’s stand on land tax reform, members voted strongly against the O.F.A. proposal for farm tax reform’s Thursday night. ^iiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiKiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinjim ADAMS Heating & Cooling • Heating Systems of All Types INSTALLED, MODERNIZED and MAINTAINED General Sheet Metal Work Air Conditioning Humidifiers About 50 attended the meeting in Belgrave, many saying they had come to the monthly meeting of the Federation only because they had heard a vote would be taken on the proposal. They wanted no part of the O.F.A.’s proposal that food producing land be tax exempt and farmers only pay taxes on their farm homes and a minimal acreage around the house. Speaker after speaker doubted the government’s motives in the proposal to ease the burden on land tax by paying the taxes for farmers on all but their homes. < A Call Far Professional LAND CLEARING Bulldozing & Heavy Equipment Rentals • Ventilation | 235-2187 E 133 Huron St., East, Exeter niiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirp WESLAYNE Company Ltd. 294-6933 Parkhillr Ont. In supporting the motion against the policy of O.F.A. and the proposal of the provincial government, Jim McIntosh, director for east central Huron said that a large majority of farmers in Huron are not willing to have the government pay tax on all but the farm house. There is nothing wrong with the market value assessment which the province will be adopting, he said, if all properties are justly assessed. As a former clerk­ treasurer for Tuckersmith township, he said, he didn’t like the farm tax proposal. He said the O.F.A. should stick to its original proposal of people taxes paying for service to people and property taxes paying for services to property. Debate stopped at this point when Merle Gunby, vice-president of the Huron Federation and director from north west Huron to O.F.A. moved a tabling motion which was defeated. Mr. Grunby claimed that the time for opposition to the O.F.A. policy was earlier . and that now that the policy had been accepted by O.F.A. the county should stand behind the provincial decision. After the tabling motion’s defeat, Jim Armstrong of NOW, PATORAN FL LIQUID SUSPENSION ’ Wingham said he felt that the government’s proposal was part of the government’s cheap food policy. He noted a meeting of consumer groups and labour unions some time ago in which both groups called for public ownership of food producing land as a way of keeping food prices down, He wondered what would happen if he didn’t pay the taxes on his house for three years therefore making it liable for tax sale, Who would then get the land on the farm, he wondered. Land taxes make up only about one per cent of input costs, he said, and weren’t that serious a problem for far­ mers. Maurice Bean, director for central west Huron defended the O.F.A. policy. He said that farmers seemed to be happy with the 50 percent rebate on taxes that the O.F.A. won to offset education taxes so what was the fuss over 100 per cent. If farmers feel so strongly about paying their share of taxes, he said, then why did farmers want exemptions from sales tax on items they buy? George Underwood of Wingham said that he was concerned that many of the O.F.A. directors from across the province who approved the policy don’t really know what’s going on. He said that at an information meeting held earlier in Clinton the O.F.A. executive didn’t seem to get the message that farmers didn’t like the policy. Maybe now they’d listen, he said. Ernie Ackert a visiting member of the Bruce Federation related the story number of lakes on farms in Bruce county where, during the depression the owners had asked that they be releived of paying taxes on the water portion of the lake since it was non­ productive farmland. Later these owners discovered that they had lost ownership of the lake portions of their farm on their deeds and that the lakes were now owned by the government. Paul Ross, Clinton lawyer said that before coming to Clinton he had worked for a - they had in the past. The time at the. Ministry of O.F.A, had two options, he Revenue and felt that they ' ............................ themselves didn’t seem to know where they were going with land tax reform, “Why take chances with your own land?” he wondered. Gordon Hill, past president of O.F.A. came to the defence of the O.F.A. policy saying he believed the government was sincere in its proposal. As far back as 1948, he said, the Federation had been asking for tax relief. Under a great deal of stress the government did come up with the education tax rebate in 1970, he said. He said the government’s task in reform was com­ plicated by the pledge of former agriculture minister Bill Stewart that any new taxation system would not be harder on the farmer than the old system. With the education tax rebate and the fact that the whole tax assessment could be claimed as an expense it meant that farmers were only paying about 10 per cent of their assessed taxes, he said. As for the O.F.A. policy of people taxes for people services and land taxes for land services, he said, the problem was just what were the services to land. The land AT PRICES COMPETITIVE TO PATORAN W.P. (wettable powder) Contact your local Chipman dealer Keep the Good Things Growing . PATORAN is a registered trademark of Ciba-Geigy Canada Ltd. W.G. THOMPSON & SON, Hensall, Granton COOK'S, Hensall, Centralia, Kirkton CENTRALIA FARMERS SUPPLY LTD., Centralia SCOTT'S ELEVATOR LTD., Lucan Quality from the ground up And Exeter Ford has the price and service you just naturally deserve LT-80 .............................. $1,500.00 > LT-100 ............................. $1,650.00 LGT-100 w/42" mower .. $2,530.00 LGT-120 w/42" mower ............................................$2,640.00 LGT-125 w/42" mower .......................................... $2,915.00. 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Exeter Road, East of No. 4 Hwy*(519) 235-2200 policy of the Huron groupoffered his resignation, Mr. Hill said that wasn’t without having to be sup­ necessary saying the motion ported by Mr. Gunby or any can simply Ke stated as of the other Huron directors. itself didn’t need any ser- cheap food policy. The policy will ye a great incentive to farmers to buy up more farms, wipe out the farm houses to keep down the the taxes and just work the land, It will make the countryside look barren, he argued, Mr. Gunby then returned with an emotional speech in support of the O.F.A. policy, refusing many of the earlier arguments against the policy. He claimed that a move by Huron county to oppose an O.F.A. policy would weaken the position of O.F.A. and make it look ridiculous. He said that the new proposal wouldn’t mean that farmers weren’t paying their fair share of taxes because it likely wouldn’t mean any difference in the amount of tax they paid. He said that if the government really did want to get control of farmland then it could find much easier ways than under the new tax proposals. He argued that farmers shouldn’t be against seeking a better break for them­ selves because industry is always taking government tax concessions. Mr. Gunby said that he hadn’t seen the figures of what market value assessment would mean to tax,, bills in Huron, but in Halton region it would mean an increase of four times the present taxes and farmers couldn’t afford a bill like that. He said the O.F.A. stand was approved by about 90 per cent of the directors from across the province at the March meeting in Toronto. A precedural hassle then arose since the meeting had run past the 11 p.m. deadline set by the Federation for completion of the monthly meeting. Several people insisted that a vote be taken on the motion. Mr. Gunby tried to block the vote by moving another motion to table because he said the motion was not properly directed as to who it should be referred too. This was shot down. Finally Gordon Hill suggested the motion be sent to the O.F.A. as the policy of the Huron Federation. The vote was taken and showed strongly in favour of the motion, opposing O.F.A. policy. Mr. Gunby said he could not argue in favour of the motion in Toronto and vices if there weren’t any people around. Without tax reform, he said, how could Ontario farmers compete with farmers in Alberta or New Brunswick who don’t have to pay property tax? He said the new policy for farm tax reform was a good one because he thought the government was going to raise a lot more money from land taxes in the future than said. It could continue to say it would go along with the old policy, or it could say “We’ve tried, but now it’s time to make a deal.” Jim Hallahan, R.R. 3 Blyth termed Mr. Hill’s arguments “a lot of bull.” He said he had recently taken part in a survey of farmers in east Wawanosh township and many were irate about the O.F.A. policy. He said that if O.F.A. went through with the policy it would lose half its membership in Huron county. Frank Wall of the O.F.A. executive was present at the meeting and said that the report of the committee studying land tax reform recognizes the rights of the farmer to his land even if he doesn’t pay taxes on the land. Others supporting the O.F.A. policy said that the ownership of the land depends not on who pays the taxes but on who owns the deed. But Mr. Ross argued that just because you have the deed to property doesn’t mean you own it. Another speaker warned that if the government is looking ahead with this policy, it’s looking ahead to a Better yields start and finish with Green Cross Patoran herbicide for white beans. PREPARE FOR RIDE — More than one hundred Lucan and Granton residents participated in Sunday's Ride for Cancer. Shown above prior to the ride at the registration booth are Sandra McDonald, Mary De Brouwer and Beulah Storey. T-A photo Green Cross Patoran controls weeds from the start of the growing season. And it maintains that effective weed control right up to harvest. You get clean fields and better yields. . When applied pre-emergently, as directed, Patoran is safe for beans-white, lima, snap, kidney and others. Green Cross Patoran. The quality herbicide more ‘and more bean growers depend-on. For more information, write to Green Cross Products, 1 Westside Drive, Etobicoke, Ontario. M9C1B2. <#> GREEN CROSS GREEN CROSS PRODUCTS 1, Westside Drive, Etobicoke, Ontario Division of~CIBA-GE1GY CANADA LTD. MONCTON • MONTREAL • TORONTO • WINNIPEG • CALGARY • VANCOUVER ' Registered trademark E1I7M Should treat alfalfa as big money crop Accept that alfalfa is a big money crop and you will , begin to treat it like one, says Dr. R. J. McLaughlin of ! the Ontario Agricultural -College, University of ' Guelph. I Too many farmers take i their hay crop for granted. A 1 stand of alfalfa, for exam­ ple, can make money. If you , plow it down every three or i four years, it will make . much more money. Dr. McLaughlin estimates that mismanagement reduces the total yield potential of all the forage acreage in Ontario by at least half. Part of the reason may be that the hay crop has been around for a long time. Corn and soybean crops, on the other hand, get maximum (attention because the farmer has learned their management and production techniques comparatively recently. But alfalfa is equally deserving of proper atten­ tion. I “In yield, protein, net energy, acceptance by livestock, and return on in­ vestment, alfalfa is superior to any other perennial forage. Corn silage and alfalfa complement each other to provide an excellent protein-energy balance. Direct-seeding alfalfa has been recommended for at least 10 years, yet few farmers follow this advice. They say they need compa­ nion crops for straw. Dr. McLaughlin advises farmers to buy the grain and straw and save money. Com­ panion crops are heavy com­ petitors for light, moisture, and nutrients, weakening the alfalfa stand before it is established. For better, heavier crops, seed should be drilled rather than broadcast. Harvesting should be at late bud or ear­ ly bloom. Fall fertilizing is important. “No matter how healthy it may look, alfalfa needs phosphorous to stimulate root growth and potassium to act as an anti-freeze. But it must be applied before the critical fall harvest period. Late fertilizer applications are just money wasted. 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