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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1991-12-23, Page 32PAGE 32. THE CITIZEN, MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1991. Landlords, land renters should be flexible Continued from page 29 payments are received? GRIP pay­ ments may be a major part of your crop returns. Try to anticipate the cash flow to minimize credit needs. Your rental agreement may have a basic low rental rate, but provide bonus payments depending on yields or prices above some prede­ termined levels. For example, basic rent might be $25, plus $1 per bushel for every bushel over 120 bushels per acre. Another example might be a basic rent equal to 25 bushels of corn times the market price at a designated elevator at a specified date and time. Above this basic rent the landlord could also receive a bonus based on the GRIP payments. The payment could be 25 bushels x 80 per cent pay out rate x the difference between the GRIP support price and the average market price. GRIP premiums Policing costs would soar under proposal A proposal that municipalities receiving policing service from the Ontario Provincial Police receive a special levy to help pay the costs would hurt Blyth taxpayers deeply, Blyth village councillors said. Councillors authorized sending a letter to Tom Cunningham, Reeve of Hullett Township and chairman of the Rural Ontario section of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario pointing out how heavy those costs could be. Mr. Cunningham had contacted Blyth along with Stanley and Tuck­ ersmith townships and his own township to gel figures on how the proposal contained in the Hopcroft report would effect taxpayers. That report proposed that municipalities without their own police force that receive OPP coverage should pay $100 per capita for the service. Mr. Cunningham said in an inter­ view Wednesday that in a meeting with government officials he had pointed out vhat a heavy burden this would be and how little service municipalities really get from the OPP at present. The Blyth letter, which will be o WE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON & A HAPPY. HEALTHY NEW YEAR Heartfelt thanks on this joyous occasion. We look forward to your continued support. Credit Union EXETER Clinton Community Credit Union CHRISTMAS HOURS: Christmas Eve 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. New Year's Eve 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CLINTON would have to be deducted from the basic rent paid in the fall. The bonus payment would be paid to the landlord when the farmer received his payment. In this way the landlord receives part of the benefits from GRIP, and the tenant will still be better off. You need to remember that this bushel-based rent is a form of cash rental agreement, thus the tenant is assuming most of the risk. If GRIP does become part of the rental agreement, one question I have is what happens in the “good” years when a tenant pays into GRIP and there are no payments from the pro­ gram? Are premiums to be deduct­ ed from the basic rent paid in the fall? If there are windfalls you should plan to share some of the benefits with the landlord if they will give used by Mr. Cunningham to argue his case with the government, points out the cost to Blyth at $100 per capita would be $94,500 and result in 4.74 mill increase to tax­ payers. Even at $25 per capita, the cost to the village would be $23,625, or more than a mill to receive no increase in the quality of the police service the village receives. In fact, Clerk-Treasurer Helen Grubb pointed out, cutbacks at the Wingham OPP detachment have already cut service to Blyth. The Village invested in a new office for the OPP's Community Policing program and pays for a telephone for the office but reduced staff at the Wingham Detachment means that the office is hardly used. Cruis­ ers are also not being replaced at the detachment, she said. "Personally, I think this sugges­ tion is ridiculous," Councillor Steven Sparling said. Reeve Dave Lee said this is just the tip of the iceberg and a lot more programs and expenses are going to be "down-loaded" onto municipali­ ties. you a break on rental rates. The key is mutual trust. Document your agreement. Keep in touch through­ out the season. Do your best to fol­ low the prepared agreement. If the landlord tells vou that he wants a greater share of the pie because you are receiving NISA or GRIP, you will need to explain your situation and help them under­ stand that these programs don't stand for “guaranteed profit” but rather “safety nets” to help you cover at least your cash costs. If they want more rent then they need to assume more of the costs and more of the risks. One way they can do this is through a sharecrop­ ping rental agreement. Their por­ tion of the crop is eligible for enrolment in GRIP. Low returns in farming the past several years has left many producers still hurting, and they have lost a lot of ground compared to other sectors of the economy. Now that you have an opportunity to recover from those years with the help of GRIP and NISA, should you be sharing those benefits with your landlord? Only you and your landlord can answer that question. NISA should not enter into any rental agreement discussions. Net Income Stabilization Account (NISA) was designed to allow pro­ ducers to save while the sun shines for rainy days in the future. Land­ lords who want to participate in NISA need to claim farm income to qualify. One last point that is often not considered in land rental arrange­ ments is land stewardship. A good long-term agreement can foster good stewardship. One-year cash deals that go to the highest bidder promote short-term thinking and exploitation of the land. After a while that land will yield less, and thus be less desirable until there is no value left in the farm land. It has already happened, and will con­ tinue unless we change our think­ ing, or are forced to. If you would like some help or ideas for rental agreements, contact the Agricultural Office. We won't tell you how much land is renting for, but we can help you draft a good rental agreement. A good rental agreement means never hav­ ing to say you’re sorry.