HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-01-15, Page 1News Sports Entertainment •<
Welfare caseload
doubles, no end in sight,
administrator says
Bulls finally beat Patriots,
clinch second place finish
in Western Jr. C
Community Play Project
designed to bring Blyth
together to tell story
See page 8 See page 14 See page 23
Murray Elston leads
Lib. leadership race
Vol. 8, No. 2 Wednesday, January 15, 1992 ,60 cents
That was then...
Believe it or not, snow was a scarce commodity on Sunday when the Bruce Regional
Snowarama was held in the Brussels and Walton area. Warm weather and poor snow cover
meant only 65 snowmobilers took part in the fundraising event, bringing $4120 in pledges. By
Tuesday the problem wasn't too little snow, but too much, as highways in the county were
closed.
Morris township native Murray
Elston has the lead in unofficial
results of weekend delegate voting
to choosese delegates to the Feb. 7
and 8 convention which will
choose a new leader of the Ontario
Liberal Party.
Delegates were chosen from
Huron and other southwestern rid
ing associations as well as in most
of the other parts of the province on
Saturday. Sunday, delegates were
chosen in 61 riding associations in
the Metro Toronto and Hamilton
areas.
A party source told The Citizen
Monday that Mr. Elston has 685
delegates in his camp after the
weekend voting, followed by 606
for M.P.P. Lyn McLeod of Fort
William riding. In third place,
according to this unofficial tabula
tion (official results won't be
release until today, is York Centre
M.P.P. Greg Sorbara with 330. In
fourth is Charles Beer, York North,
with 191 delegates closely followed
by Mississauga West M.P.P. Steve
Mahoney with 187. Former Agri
culture Minister David Ramsay, of
Timiskaming trails with 177.
Also elected were 150 indepen
dent candidates.
Under the complicated selection
process used by the Liberal Party to
try to open up the selection process,
16 candidates are chosen from each
riding association, four of whom
must be women, four men, and four
youths. Those delegates elected to
support a candidate are only com
mitted to support that candidate on
the first ballot, then can switch
Area Citizen
nominations
Nominations are now being
sought for the 7th annual Citizen of
the Year awards for the Bly th and
Brussels areas.
The awards, sponsored by The
Citizen, your community-owned
newspaper, honour those who have
made an outstanding contribution
to life in the community. Last
year's winners were Betty Graber,
in Brussels and area, and Dr.
Richard Street, in Blyth and area.
their allegiance. They can also
abstain from voting on the first bal
lot. In addition, there at 450 "ex-
officio" delgates, made up of riding
presidents, M.P.P.'s, and former
candidates none of whose alle
giances are known at this time.
As expected, Mr. Elston got
strong support from his home coun
ty. The former Huron-Bruce M.P.P.
who, through redistribution of the
old riding now represents Bruce,
received the support of 15 of the 16
possible candidates from Huron in
voting Saturday afternoon at the
Clinton Legion. One supporter of
Lyn McLeod was elected.
He will be surrounded by friends
and relatives at the convention in
Hamilton. Among the delegates
from Huron are five Elstons: his
parents Bill and Isabel, brother
Wayne, sister-in-law Lynda and
their daughter Carolyn who is a
youth delegate. Also heading to
Hamilton from Huron are Paul
Jewitt, Judy Jewitt, Fred Lobb,
Kim McLean, Nancy Parker,
Howard Aiken, Ken Armstrong,
Jack Horn, Pat Down, Carolyn
Love and Fayeanne Love.
In all there will be 2800 possible
delegates to the convention at the
Copps Coliseum. A majority of one
vote will be needed to choose the
leader to succeed David Peterson
who resigned following the Liber
als loss to the NDP in Sept. 1990.
Mr. Elston had served as interim
party leader for some time but had
resigned when he was persuaded by
many party supporters that he
should seek the permanent leader
ship.
of Year
sought
Nomination will be accepted (see
nomination form in this issue) until
Feb. 14. The names of the nomi
nees will then be passed on to a
committee in each community
which will select a winner of the
award. Winners will be presented a
plaque in recognition of their con
tributions.
Nominations can be submitted in
writing either by mail, of by bring
ing them in to either the Brussels or
Blyth offices of The Citizen.
Updated assessment values hit homeowners
Drops in the value of farm, com
mercial and industrial properties
will mean homeowners pick up a
great share of the tax burden when
Huron County shifts this year from
assessment based on 1984 values to
1988 market values.
Gerald Morgan, assessment com
missioner from the Huron-Perth
Assessment office delivered his
report to Huron County Council
Thursday, showing a dramatic drop
in the value of farmland between
1984, the base year for determining
market value of properties for
assessment purposes in the last four
years, to 1988 which will be used
as the basis of assessment and taxa
tion for the next four years. In
many communities the value of
industrial and commercial proper
ties has also dropped. Meanwhile
the market value of residences has
continued to increase.
Just to maintain the same level of
taxes for county, school board and
local municipal requirements as last
year, will mean major increases in
residential taxes. Hardest hit will be
homeowners in the town of
Goderich where, without any
increases for new needs, taxes on
the average home will increase
$294. Zurich homeowners will get
the smallest increase: just $23.
Locally, taxes on an average
Brussels home would increase $146
just to produce the same revenue to
the municipality, county and school
boards while in Blyth the increase
would be $82. Across the county, it
would mean an extra $2,976,363 in
residential taxes, just to raise the
same amount of total tax dollars as
last year. (Notices will be mailed in
early February which will allow
property owners to calculate the
exact effect their reassessment will
have on their properties.)
The one big winner in the whole
shift of the tax burden from farm
and industrial to residential could
be the provincial government,
Nigel Bellchamber, County Clerk-
Administrator pointed out. Taxes
on farmland will be reduced by
$2,535,040 but since the province
pays a 50 per cent rebate on taxes
on farmland, much of the saving
Continued on page 12
Where the changes will go
Municinalitv Avn. Res, increase Avg. Farm decrease
Blyth $ 82 -$137
Brussels 146 -33
Colhorne 196 z323
Grey 178 -292
Howick 102 z2fi5
Hullett 71 ____________________
MoKillop 125 ____________________
Morris 135 -AA2
Turnberry 103 J5J
Fast Wawanosh 93 zl£L4
West Wawanosh 76 z215
County avg.153 -284