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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-01-18, Page 15E , 1 1 1 , , 9, 9 9 9 9, , f - s 126 YEAR --3 THURSDAY, Ji NU 1 4 L—STAR RY1 18, 1973 SECOND SECTION 11•_. y Fund dirge of !Helen ►t 0 9 c c i0 Ism e.0.11astwood is_the Rptonal Assessment Commissioner ywfor the "Huron F iffrAsi ioment—Otflce. Prior- Huron-Perth rior Huron -Perth appointment lt% Zidptember, 1i,`. �-1, Mr. East- wood was the regional commissioner In theilrockvills of- iier. (staff, photo) t _.r — ent makes sense For year8 many people have located on Napier St, in not: been, fully aware of the Goderich: duties of the Huron -Perth' Ass• essment •is the official Regional Assessment Office value placed upon real property. Prior.. to 1970, it was administered by the :local municipalities and counties. Occasionally, the local municipalities did not - follow 'the legislation set down by the Provincial Government. On Januar 1, 1970, the province assumed the task of bringing consistency and equality to assessment.. It now assesses the worth of properties , but the municipal government continues to levy taxes:' 'uron Council agrees to remove jail walls This view of the Huron -Perth Regional Assessment Office :in relation to the former Huron County Jail will give some idea of the problem confronting Huron County Council at. the present moment. The assessment office is overcrowded anda fairly extensive addition is being planned. The only feasible plan,' according to county council, is to tear down a portion of the jail walls to make, way for the addition which will rise to the east bf the present assessment building. The jail and its wafts, a unique structure which' is the only one of its kind in North America, is under consideration, at the present .time by the Town of Goderich- as a -museum and cultural -art centre. Some feel levelling' -any part of the jail walls will destroy the historicallvalue-of the structure. Others are unconcerned and say the jail holds no memories which are worth hanging onto. (staff photo) BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER As one spokesman from the Huron -Perth Regional Assessment Office explained it, "We're wall to wall desks and wall to wall. people at ,the moment." Of course, the spokesman was referring to the conditions of overcrowding which presen- tly ,exist at the Assessment office located in Goderich the same problem which is troubling members of Huron County Council so early Min the new year. Late in 1972, Huron County Council was considering an addition to the assessment of- fice to be located on the east side of the.'present building. .Since that route would necessitate tearing down a portion of the walls of the historical former Huron County I alternatives to theroblerri. ` Jatl,_the matter was referred back to the_property roperty committee for further study a S a 1ook at possible p The problem, of course, is compounded- by the -fact that the Town of Goderich is hoping to -make an -,agreement with -Huron County Council to use the .former jailhouse for a com- bination museum and cultural -art centre. Representatives from Goderich have noted on - several occasions that they would prefer that the jail and its walls be left untouched. At the first session of 1973, the property committee chaired by Reev Ken McMichael of Turnberry, brought in a recommendation which was a repeat of$w-1972 recommen- dation. Council approved the suggestion to build an addition of approximately 3,150 square feet on each of two floors as well as a basement at an estimated cost of $150,000, provided satisfactory leasing arrangements can be agreed.upon between the Ministry of Govern- ment Services, Realty Services Branch and the County of Huron. The recommendation also stated that three jail walls would have to be Yenrved—the one adjacent to.the•kitchen entrance to the Children's Aid offices, the wall facing Napier Street and the wall immediately adjacent to the present assessment building. It' appeared that no suitable alternative to the removal of these jail walls .could be found. A suggestion by former Goderich Reeve Paul Carroll that property to the west -a. —7 -the sessment-office-be•--purchased-was--ter-meeimpxacti ea V. • New Goderich Deputy -Reeve Stan Profit saw the matter this way. "The proposed site is probably the best. of.the alternatives," said Profit .disturb me if the- jail isn't left, in its entirety." , • Profit wont on to say that in his opinion, the assessment office was an assured thing and the museum, cultural -art centre in the jail is only a possibility. "If the wall is taken down, it becom es:Goderich's problem to decide what to do," con- eluded Profit "It doesnt, Reeve Deb Shewfelt was a little more reluctant to agree to the removal of the jail walls. "Ideally the jaifishouldn't be'touched," said Shewfelt. He stated, however, that it did stem foolhardy to risk losing an industry which pumps a half -million dollars annually into the community for the sake of the jail walls." Finally Shewfelt countered with a proposal, that if the walls were removed, the county . give consideration to moving the Children's Aid Officeinto the upper floor of the new building (the assessment office requires only 2,600 square feet of the addition) and leasing the former governor's•house in which'CAS is presently located, to the Town of Goderich. The idea ,proved immediately popular with some members of county council, and Clerk - treasurer John Berry even advised council that the suggestion was certainly worthy of study. Berry said --GAS would welcome new quarters since the present building needs renovations of all kinds to accommodate equipment common to modern offices - procedures. Reeve Bob Lyons of West Wawanosh was not too concerned about the possibility of removing some jail walls. His main outlook was for additional parking space to accom- modate pelfonnel at the Regional Assessment Office. "If we're tearing one wall down, maybe we should ,be tearing more down," said Reeve Lyons. M Ihwas pointed out that no additional staff is expected at the assessment office. It was only a matter of providing sufficient working space for the people already employed there. Reeve Jack McCutcheon of Brussels asked if there was any assurance that the county would•not build the new facilities and then find in the future that the Ontario government 'had plans for locating the assessment office elsewhere. "That bothers me," admitted McCutcheon. • . -- It was suggested at this, point that if the additional facilities were constructed, the county would have a, "good foothold" on the "industry" for which Perth County would give its "eye teeth". Reeve Bill Elston, Morris, said the county should go ahead with plans for building. this • addition to the assesment office. "There are things which are not nice about it but for the good of us all, i think it should be done.'said Elston. ' Upon the takeover of the assessment by the provincial government, a four-year reassessment program has been underway. In 1974, the provin- cial government will be able to return to the municipality and -state what each -piece of property is currently worth. - The reassessment is to have all pieces of property assessed at the same levels of value, so that each ;,ratepayer can be, taxed fairly. Property is assessed at market value for several reasons: Some of them are: 1. It will allow homeowners to determine if they are paying too much, too little, or the right amount of property taxes com- pared with other property owners in the area.,. 2. It will help the govern- ment ensure that municipalities and school boards receive, their fair share of annual provincial funds as (assessment data is used in apportioning grants. 3. Market value assessment is the prelude to property tax reform. 'The taxation system cannot be fairly structured un - complete and accurate assessment information has been collected and analysed. After 1974, all assessments will ssessmentswill be reviewed regularly to s • Assessment office staff needs space At the• present moment, there are 55 persons employed at the Huron -Perth Regional • Assessment Office: OL "these,-28_rsside-in Goderich:" two .reside just outside of Goderich; ten are presently living in other areas of Huron County; three more are moving , to Huron County • from Perth County ih the immediate future; and 12 still commute daily from Perth County. Mil Jackson, the man in,charge..of personnel at the assessment office, says that when ad- ditional casual staff is needed, all are hired from this area. . • Jackson admitted that -additional space is badly needed at, the assessment .officer.. He said that while no ad- ditional permanent staff ---is--contemplated and no extra equipment is im- mediately required, the staff requires "spread - out room" since they are now working In crimped, Inefficient quarters. Parking, he said, presents -some. problem at this time of year since most,of the stiff is in the office all the time. In the 'spring, summer and tall, of course, much of the personnel is away from the'office and in the field during most of the day. , 0 0 ensure that they remain fair and accurate. One of the services conducted by the local assessment office is the census. The taking of the census' serves two purposes. One is that it aids in the preparation of the voter's list and two, it provides a record indicating the school support for the calculation of the following year's school taxes. v . Municipal enumerations must be taken regularly so that the portion of the property tax designated for the school, boards ispaid to the proper board. The assessors working out of the Huron -Perth Regional Assessment Office are highly trained individuals whose aims are to see that everyone's . -- assessment is fair and accuratv1 To do this, assessors must - mmeasure the property's external dimensions and note certain features of the building struc- ture such as quality of building' materials, plumbing"- facilities, number of rooms and other principal factors that may af- fect the value of property. The only things in the home ',that may be assessed are per- manent and integral parts' of the building. The _assessor is not interested in homy fur- nishings or .personal belongings. If at any" time a property owner thinks he or she is un- fairly assessed, the owner may appeal to the Assessment Review Court any time between • January and October The regional Assessment Commissioner B.G. Eastwood and - his capable staff are anxious to answer any questions property owners may' have about 'assessments. After all, they are public servants paid by the people and they are looking out for the best in- ' terests of all. For information call 524-7326 Monday to Friday. ProvIne may Interveni There is some .,indication that the Province of Ontario is presently drafting legislation which could conserve historically or architecturally valuable bu,jldings .... such us the former Huron County fail. Larry Ryon, executive director of the Ontario4-leritage Foundation. said lust week that while there is no law no preventing 'the destruction of such structures, an outline of proposed legislation is presently being cir- culated by the government among historical organizations in Ontario. Thi •tegisla tion. Ryan claimed, is supported by- those. interested in conserving and preserving such ,real estate. Thadirector thought the legislation would probably give municipalities the means to designate and protect historical buildings through loco! bylaws. } 13 The Assessment Services Department currently has about 17 members on permanent staff. They are kept busy by updating data sheets, making adjustments and title searching among other duties. In this department the data processing for the office is done. The head of this department is Howard Harris. (Staff photo) , To ensure that property is drawn with the most accuracy, two regular draftsmen am- ployed by the office. They deaf with mapping and the drawing of area plot plans. Currently they are busy laying out plans of all the municipal areas in the region. (staff photo) Story by __...-,.-_____ .0 ._, • Keliestine The drafting area located in'a corner of the Assessment Services Department is equipped,,. with the most modern drafting equipment to aid in the output of the finest quality work. (staff photo) The downstairs section of the assessiiiiint bumf is coni - posed of both the clerical staff which is add up of two typist 'receptionists and two clerk typists. -the clerical staff comes under office manager Don Jackson. The other staff menmDers pictured hoittorilipart of the' Assessment Services Department. They perform computation and keypunch work= as well as clerical duties. - (staff photo)