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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-05-06, Page 1Education budget increases by 13.E per cent to $28.6 rn.illian. Huron County taxpayers will have an additional residential assessment itt the county the education Hedindieated•that much of the increase: in education.. $38 average theirrsment t f n t00. The biggest. chunk will the from to $289 to $328. taxation is due to a reduction in the percentage of $38:7f on education tax blTiTua year based on an' fax o e budget, 71 per cent, is provincial g rants. That increase is based on an average residential labelled for salaries and benefits. The salaries and In 1975, provincial grants accounted for 76 per cent assessment in the county, as supplied by the benefits for teachers and administration amounts to of the elementary school budget and that has steadily assessment commissioner, and follows the Board of over$20 million for 1981. declined to 68 per cent last.fyear. In the secondary Education's approval of a 1981 budget in Clinton, The other big items an the expenditure side include panel the story is much the same. Provincial grants Tuesday. $2.4 million for plant operation and maintenance and in 1975 covered 76 per cent of the cost and fell to 65 per The new budget calls for total expenditures of $2.3 million for transportation. cent in 1980. $28,630,287, an increase of 13.2 per cent over the This year, debt charges on debentures and interest board's $25,296,061 in expenditures last year. That on operating loans will amount to $983,336. So while Cochrane also explained that declining enrolment means the taxpayers of Huron will' have to contribute the overall expenditure rose by 13.2 per cent the has limited provincial grants. $9,484,702 to the:education system this. year, an in- amount raised through taxation will go up by a "Money from the province is based on the number crease of 19,1 per cent over the $7,964,847 raised whopping 19 per cent. of students and with declining enrolment the grants through taxes in 1980. Several municipal and township clerks attended have fallen off," he said. "The provincial spending That means the local mill rate for education will the budget niepting and Director of Education, John ceilings have;fallen behind price increases." jump 13:49 mills in 1981 to 105.93: On an average Cochrane outlined- the budgeting procedure, for 1981. The board's committees did make cuts from Godencth 133 YEAR -18 original budget_ estimates and one of the- major deletions was $75,000 that was removed from a proposed teacher sick -leave gratuity fund. Cochrane said that accumulative sick -day pay for teachers with more than 12 years experience would amount to $3.3 million. Despite a warning from the auditors to establish a reserve fund, the board decided to wait on the reserve fund and delete the $75,000 from the budget. A separate motion was also passed to put a freeze on hiring in the elementary panel until the pupil - teacher ratio reflects limitations set out in the collective agreement. The board also delayed the phased implementation of special education instruction as outlined in Bill 82. A special education program isin place in the county, but the board has until 1985 to bring that up to Bill 82 SIGNAL - WEDNESDAY, MAY 6,1981 50 CENTS PER COPY Local tax bills up by 8.6 percent BY DAVE SYKES The education portion of the Goderich 'tax' bill' is rapidly gaining momentum and has, town council more than mildly concerned. Council established its consolidated mill rate Monday, after learning of the Board of Education levy, that will compute into an 8.6 per cent increase on the average tat bili .. The average homeowner, with a house assessed at $3,500, paid $832.86 in taxes in 1980 for public school support. This year, that same homeowner will be asked for $904.19, an increase of $71.33. Of that in-. . crease,. 77 per cent or $54.99 .will gofor education purposes while the town'S share of the increase is $11.76 or 16.5 per cent. The remaining $4.58 is the rise in the County of Huron's requisition. Separate school supporters were not hit quite as hard. In 1980 a separate supporter with a house assessed at $3,500 paid $848,89 in taxes compared to $889.42 this year, an increase of $40.53. The break- down shows that 59 per cent of the increase ($24.19) went .for education purposes, $11.76 for general municipal purposes and $4.58 reflects the County of Huron's requisition. The substantial increase in the educationlevy means that, for the first time, the biggest percentage of your taxbill will go towards education. In com- was used for 'municipal purposes while 32 per cent were used for municipal purposes while 32 per cent was direected to education costs. This year 45.5 percent of each tax bill will go to • - • education and 44.3 per cent will be used by the town of Goderich. However, the County of Huron portion of the tax dollar allocation has decreased from 17.8 per cent in 1975 to 10.2 per cent in 1981. So the consolidated residential mill rate for public HOW YOUR TAX DOLLARS ARE SPENT. 1981 Tax Bill Education Town County Total $411.41 $400.56 $92.22 $904.19 Education Town County Total .Increase Based on average assessment of '3,500 and 1980 tax bill of `832.8(5 $54.99 $11.76 $4.58 $71.33 school supporters is 258.34 and 254.12 for separate school supporters. The commercial rates are 303.94 for public school and 298.97 for separate school supporters. The mill rates reflect a 3 per cent increase for municipal purposes, a 15.4 per cent increase- • in education rates and a 5.2 per cent increase in County rates. This year the town of Goderich required an ad- ditional $46,424 in revenue to raise the total tax revenue to $1,421,739. the general municipal com- mercial mill rate increased by 3.96 mills to 134 and the general municipal residential rate increased by 3.36 mills to 114.32. that represents an increase of 3 per cent. The town has already sent out interim tax bills in February and the next tax bill received by residents is payable in two instalments. The second instalment is due June 12 and the final portion is payable by October 23. Penalties are charged at the rate of 11/4 per cent on the first day of default and 11/4 per cent on the first day of each month after that. Taxes unpaid at the end of the year are also subject to an interest rate of 1% percent per month. Union won't compromise on safety -Robinson Striking members of the Energy and Chemical Workers Union Local 16 are prepared to stay out over their demands union officials told a large gathering of wives Wednesday. About 100 wives of striking workers gathered in Saltford Hall as the union executive outlined the negotiation, conciliation and mediation efforts with the company. The union was in a legal strike position Sunday; April 12 at midnight. Mediation efforts fell through after six days of bargaining and a number .of issues were left unresolved. The meeting was explanatory in nature, as officials detailed the unresolved issues. The union says the main issue centres on health and safety conditions in the mine and is seeking definitive terms of reference and commitments on the part of Domtar to improve safety and health conditions INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR Historic charm The unique character of Huron County has been drawn and documented r� in Nick Hill's third book, i ' .+ called Historic Streetscapes of Huron County. It includes over ;a 100 illustrations done by Hill. See page IA for pictures and story. Lots of laughs Reporter. Joanne Buchanan -went to see Goderich Little Theatre's last production of the year and it left her laughing right into the next season. Read her review on the first page of the next section. Condo in Bayfield Huron County Council has approved a zoning amendment to allow a 76 -unit condominium project to be built on the Bayfield Concession north of the village. The three-phase project will be done by R. Peever of London. See page 5. Regular Features Tid Bits Pg. 2 Newborns Pg. 2 Editorials Pg. 4 1'10ilm/ta: n Sports Pg. 12.13 ClassifiedPg. 14.15 Real Estate .. Pg. 16-17 B. Board Pg. 5A Church Pg. 6A F'srm� •�,.� P t g.,..,1 OA Jottings Pg. 12A C. Comet Pg. 14A through training. They are also asking for recognition of union health and safety representatives and compliance with legislation. Further to the commitments, the union has asked Domtar to withdraw a grievance and subsequent claim for damages resulting from an employee walkout which occurred last year over safety condi- tions. Other unresolved issues as articulated to the group by national representative, Dave Pretty, included: layoff according to seniority with' reasonable notice; a definitive work week with no compulsory overtime; improvements in overtime pay and for regular hours worked on Saturday and Sunday; improvements in rate classification, underground premiums and holidays, improved vacation structure; im- provements in company benefits including dental and long-term disability plans, life insurance and pension plans. National representative Dave Pretty told the group that the strike represents some real issues and in- dicated the union's last three-year contract fell behind inflation. "Statistics Canada shows that for the same three- year period as our agreement, inflation rose by 34.3 per cent," he said. "The miners received 19.5 per cent and that falls 14.8 per cent short." Pretty quoted figures from the company's annual report and said that Sifto led Domtar's 17 divisions with a profit margin of 37.6 per cent in the last fiscal year. The union is seeking the right to self determination on several issues and of prime concern is health and safety. "Safety is the area most vital to every person and last year we had to resort to leaving the mine to get action," he said. "The safety and health aspect must be resolved before anybody goes back to work." Turn to page 3 Council upset with rising costs BY DAVE SYKES Education costs are now consuming the biggest portion of the tax bill in Goderich and town council believes the trend must be reversed. In speaking to the consolidated town budget that reflects an 8.6 per cent increase for the average resident, finance chairman, Don Wheeler, expressed concern that education costs eroded the town's control over its own budget. "There is increasing concern that revenue from the tax base is no longer within our control," he said. "Every year we agonize over Our budget and make cuts because , we know the board of education requisition will be high. And they don't disappoint Wheeler added that since the highest percentage of a tax bill now goes towards funding education, it creates serious problems for council. The first problem, he said, is accountability to the taxpaying public and the second, is that the education requisition distorts municipal priorities in the budget. "The town is the tax collector and we have tried to separate accountability and will send a letter with the tax statements," he said. "The board arranges their budget in isolation and don't have to look at any tax base. They only look at expenditures." While council was not laying sole blame on the board of education and labelling the group as the villain responsible for hefty increases, they want the public to be cognizant of the reasons behind tax in- creases. With each tax bill, there will be an explanatory letter detailing the tax increase and where the money is spent. Council may not outright label the board as the villain in this matter, but the figures, they hope, will vivdly substantiate that theory. In his submission to council, Wheeler explained that 49 per cent of the 1975 taxes were spent on public services in town. This year that figure will be reduced to 44 per cent while 45.5 per cent of property taxes will go towards education in the county. "If the trend continues, by next year or the year after, more tax money will go to education than other public services. The town can't spend because of -what the taxpayer -will --be-hit. with -from --the-board-of- - education." Wheeler said the town could consider appealing the education portion of the tax bill but indicated that an assessment appeal was self-defeating. "We really have no appeal but should try to galvanize public opinion," he said. "It is my personal opinion that the money should be raised through income tax. We must try to get something done and perhaps a resolution - could be forwarded to the Minister. We need an alternate system of raising revenue." Without an alternate system, the town would be forced to keep reducing programs and services within Goderich to accommodate the education tax increases and keep the tax increases reasonable, Wheeler said. Councillor Elsa Haydon charged that councillors Murray Cardiff should attend education meetings if they wanted to criticize the board. "We must do Our own work if we believe education should not come out of property taxes," she said. "When we set the budget ,for general municipal purposes our meetings are open and council agonized over each cut. But we never hear the reasoning behind the board budget. There should be more openness on the part of the board." Councillor Stan Profit argued that council should not be that concerned over the board of education budget claiming "it's not our job." Turn to page 18 Canada leads trading world' Murry Cardiff, MP for Huron -Bruce, spoke to the Godench Rotary Club yesterday afternoon about his involvement in a parliamentary committee in- vestigating the state of exportation in Canada and the role the government should be playing in it. Cardiff says that by the end of June, the committee will be reporting directly to Parliament on its fin- dings. It is his hope that eventually a trading cor- por ation will be formed to assist businesses who wish to make successful buying contacts in other coun- tries. He made it clear to the Rotarians that the cor- poration will be a private one, not a crown cor- poration. In outlining Canada's trade picture, Cardiff told the Rotarians that Canada is the world's leading trading country for its size. We export billion worth of goods and import $60 billion, with the $5 billion sur- plus going toward the easement of the national debt. If it wasn't for our export of agriculture, especially wheat and white beans, the situation would be grave, said Cardiff. He cited the main problem with Canada's export industry is the fact that we export raw material and import them back into the country • as-finished.produets,-naturally.at•a-higherprieee Cardiff says that a trading corporation could provide businesses with marketing skills needed to make it in the foreign market. specicications. In reviewing the overall budget, effectively, the cost of instruction per pupil has risen by 17 per cent over last year. Enrolment is declining by a rate of 2 per cent per year and teacher's salaries were up by an average of 15 per cent. Board vice-chairman, Bert Morin said the cost of education will continue to rise until something is done to broaden the industrial tax base in Huron County.. "People have to stop paying lip service to getting industry in this county," he said. "We need more industry andmore.people ..to -carry the tax load." The board briefly touched on. a different method of collecting taxes but Cochrane said .a decision on whether the board will collect education taxes more than twice yearly, will be made in the fall. More frequent collection would save the board about $250,000 annually in interest and.carrying charges. ,54444' ; '�i� . 'h 1 •4 ''.Gil" 64 This telephone booth at the corner of Montreal Street and The Square was set on fire by vandals early Saturday morning along with another booth located near the elevators. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) Vandals set fire to phones and grass BY JOANNE BUCHANAN Vandals hit Goderich and area on the weekend, setting two pay telephone booths ablaze, also lighting a grass fire and damaging washrooms at Harbor Park and several trailers at Maitland Trailer Park. It all seemed to start at 2:26 Saturday morning when police put out a fire in a telephone booth located near the Goderich elevators. Ten minutes later, police were stopped by a motorist who said he had just putout a fire in a telephone booth at the corner of Montreal Street and The Square. At 3:21 a.m. police were calledto a small grass fire near Cashway Lumber. At 4:37 a.m. the fire department was call a4 out when the sprinkler system was activated at Selinger Wood Ltd. Then at 5:40 am. the same phone booth set on fire earlier at the corner of Montreal Street and The Square, was set ablaze again. The fires in the two booths were both started by lighting the telephone directories with matches. Police Chief Pat King says although police have some idea who the vandals are, it will be difficult to prove. Three youths were arrested by police on the weekend in -connection with other incidents but not the fires. A very rough estimate of damage for the phone booths has been set at $800.. However. Bell Canada could set it higher. Wallace nominated for Heritage award Goderich town council will submit the name of Dorothy Wallace for`nomination in the Heritage Canada Foundation national awards. The awards honor individuals, groups, business. and governments which have made contributions in preserving Canada's built environment. There are three different categories of awards offered in five regions of Canada. The winners of the Heritage Canada Foundation awards will be announced at the Fnundation' s meetingin Halif 3_la1Q^t ter,__._._..... . _ _...._._. Mrs. Wallace was present at the. council meetine Monday and said she was honored to have her name submitted for such an award.