HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1994-04-27, Page 1Contest____■ Business J Feature ■ Sports
Find the hidden
Blyth Bucks
for chance to win
See page 3
Couple opens
pizzeria on
Blyth’s main street
See page 6
Family’s fishing
event raises funds
for Big Brothers
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Blyth hockey
teams going to
Hall of Fame
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CitizenTheNorth Huron Brussels council
hears good news
Vol. 10 No. 17 Wednesday, April 27, 1994
Brussels councillors received
some good news at the budget
meeting held Wednesday evening,
April 20.
Auditor Nancy Exel of Doane600 GST included
Gov’t changes hit HCBE purse strings
By Janice Becker
After several months of hard
work, the Huron County Board of
Education administration and the
trustees thought they had pared
down the budget to maintain the
millrate at its present level.
However, an unpleasant surprise
was in store for them at a special
budget meeting held on Monday
when Director of Education Paul
Carroll informed the trustees that
the General Legislative Grants
(GLG) had finally been announced
for the 1994 school year and he
saw "the strangest changes in any
set of grant regulation" since he
started working for the board. After
number crunching for the last
week, since the arrival of the grant
information, Glen Lamb, director
of finance says, "Huron County
taxpayers will see an increase in the
millrate of 6.1 per cent."
On a residential assessment of
$60,000, this would increase the
tax to $582.30, up $33 from 1993.
Mr. Carroll pointed out that
without the many hours of work
already done on the budget, the
trustees would have had to deal
with a double digit increase.
Over the past months, the board
has decreased the estimated 1994
expenditures by $1,754,235 as well
as increasing the revenues for a
total adjustment of approximately
$2.3 million.
In recent years, the board was
able to maintain the increase in the
millrate at an acceptable level by
using a portion of its reserves to
decrease the total dollars required
from the taxpayer. For 1994, there
is no reserve to use as it will go
toward improvements at Goderich
District Collegiate Institute. (The
grants expected for the project were
withdrawn). Goderich Trustee Rick
Romph said, "If we had not used
the reserve in the past to keep
provincial increases down, we may
have had less of an increase in the
rate this year."
Several trustees, including Doug
Gamiss, who represents Morris and
Tumberry Townships, said, "I don't
see any other place where we can
cut the budget this year without
disruptions to the system."
Goderich Trustee Norm Pickell
said, "We can't vote for more cuts
in the budget and penalize the
students (by affecting the quality of
education)."
Mr.. Carroll agreed saying,
"There are no additional significant
reductions which will even make
one mill difference in the rate,
without affecting the school
system's present form." He told the
trustees that their long process of
cutting the budget would have
positive effects for years to come.
"This increase in the millrate to
taxpayers is not the doing of the
board. It is due to the changes to
the GLG."
The changes to the grant
regulations came in several areas,
one of the most significant being in
equalized property assessment for
education tax purposes. The
provincial government decided that
all property was worth 20.7 per
cent more than its present assess
value, thus increasing the dollar
amount used to determine
residential taxes.
Other changes were seen in the
per pupil grants given to the board
which depend on specific
conditions. The board is given
grants determined by the
qualifications of its teachers. WiLh
Continued on page 6
Raymond Chartered Accountants
told councillors that the village was
in good financial shape with an
accumulated surplus of $44,891.13.
The surplus of 1993 was $6,860.15.
This positive news made it easier
for council to pass the 1994 budget
which showed a zero per cent
increase in the general purpose tax
levy for Brussels residents.
Clerk Treasurer Donna White
highlighted several aspects of the
proposed budget prior to its being
passed. A total of $27,500 must be
raised for the village's portion of
the storm sewer work on Frederick
St.
The budget also includes $66,500
for the fire hall capital expense,
$4,400 for fire suits and $9,862.37
for pagers. The fire hall costs are
budgetted for $144,889 with two-
thirds to be covered under the
Canada-Ontario Infrastructure
Works Program.
Mrs. White told council that if
the fire hall costs more than esti
mated a future council should not
be committed to the debt. She
offered four options for this contin
gency — a transfer from working
reserves for one year, accessing the
remainder of the tennis court fund,
looking for private debenture, or
borrowing money from water
works.
The village can expect an addi
tional revenue figure of $6,830.58
due to increased assessment from
new residential development.
A tender for grass cutting was
Continued on page 2
PAC hears
new views
at meeting
The Public Advisory Committee
for the Goderich-Guelph aban
doned railway right-of-way took its
hearings to Walton last Thursday
and received a different perspective
on the issue than the one heard at
the April 18 meeting in Auburn,
says Jim Van Osh of the Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and
Rural Affairs.
He said the Walton gathering
consisted mainly of landowners and
farmers who expressed concern
over control of the right-of-way.
There was a more even split
between urban dwellers' (Goderich)
concerns and the issues of impor
tance to the rural community, at the
Aubum meeting.
Three specific issues were raised
by the adjacent landowners. They
wanted some control over access to
the property to maintain a degree of
privacy for homes located close to
the rail line, access for owners with
land located on both sides of the
line and an agreement so that the
land to the edge of the stone ballast
could be used for farming.
Mr. Van Osh said there seemed
to be a willingness by the farmers
to split the use of the property and
look at various uses for the land.
There were mixed thoughts as to
whether the land should be used for
a trail with motorized vehicles, as a
walking trail or neither.
Many landowners were con
cerned about liability and what
Continued on page 6