HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-03-16, Page 51
Pear,E,4tto4
Recently, at the r'eqUeat
04 Ontario ,FederatiOn of
Apiculture (aF.A..), the
%tar* CrOYeroment again
offered a DOW farm property
tax PrOP0401,;$40.leally,, the
new. proposal Is this. far=
land and buildings will "be
assessed and ',taxed as they
are now,. farm homes wain
assessed ancl taxed equitably
with other homes in the
community, the lot on which
the farm house sits will be
assessed and taxed at 50
percent of the value the lot
would have if it could be
severed.The program win'
be legislated, therefore more
penhanent and secure than
the present rebate program
which must be approved
each year by Order in
Conneil. Farmers will
continue to pay their entire
property taxes as they do
now. Those farmers who
wish to, will receive a grant
equal to the sum of the taxes
on their land and (farm
buljdings. There will be no
grant �n the farm house and
lot.
a
:g
•
• „
„
choice
L..
as. sewed for #01)ortt tax, •
try 'borrowing one Without,
the, OWner's Conon* ManY
senior ,citizens 'receive
property tas • Vans, but
uninvited Public use of their
home is not perinitted.'
The O.F.A. continues to
believe that an equitable taX
systepi. sh6tlid be based on
four points:
L People taxed 'for ser-
vices to people;
2. Property taxed for
services to property;
3. Land assessed ac-
cording to productivjty; •
4. Taxes based onability to
pay.
The Ontario Government
and their staff in the
Property Assessment
Branch have sincerely tried
for many years to find such a
system for taxing farm
property. They have been
unsuccessful. Government
decided three years ago not
to continue the search
because, probably, the funds
generated would not justify
the hassle.
Farmers now have „ a
choice. They can oppose the
new proposal and Govern-
ment will retain the present
insecure system. Or they can
accept the new proposal with
its legislated security and
the additional twenty million
dollars it would annually
provide the farm com-
munity.
• Yours very truly,
Gordon Hill.
The farm property tax
grants will be in the same
category as many other
government payments. For
example, grants for farm
ponds and water systems,
milk houses. stables. barns,
implement sheds, drains,
manure storage, fruit and
vegetable' storage, grain
storage, deficiency
payments on farm products,
improvinghomes on and off
farms, building and
rebuilding factories, pain-
ting and sprucing up farm
buildings, modernizing
machinery and equipment,
assisting Massey Ferguson,
Chrysler and other cor-
porations to remain solvent
as well as many other
purposes.
Some farmers oppose the
new plan. They mistakenly
equate payment of taxes
with maintenance , of
property rights. The right to
own, hold and enjoy property
are ensured by a document
called a "Deed", registereT
through the legal system and
enforced by law, not by
payment of taxes. Farm
property rights were
strengthened recently by the
Government passing new
laws to reduce and control
trespassing. Of course,
farmers will continue to pay
property taxes too and
receive a receipt from the
municipal tax collector.
However, many people
securely own property
without the property being
taxed. Expensive paintings
held as: an investment,
bonds,,, travel trailers, sail
and motor boats are among
the items of property not
Commends Joe Ducharme
Dear Editor,
In response to the group
home letters in last week's
Signal Star, I would like to
set the "embarrassed and
ashamed" citizens of
Goderich straight.
'the petition circulated in
the area of Elgin Avenue did
not indicate that we are
against group homes or
against having the mentally
handicapped as our neigh-
bours. It indeed did suggest
that more planning should
take place, in order to
provide a "safe" home as
well as . a normal en-
.vironment for these people
who will reqture a certain
amount of supervision.
I commend people like Mr.
Ducharme and neighbours
who had enough intelligence
to look beyond the political
shuffle, and showed a lot of
concern for the safety and
the future welfare of the
Mentally Retarded. It was
obvious at the general in-
formation meeting held at
town hall March 8, that the
people involvedk with plan-
ning the future of the
mentally retarded, are
overwhelmed with the
dream of the mentally -
retarded living in the
community setting just as
you and I.
They too deserve this
opportunity..I agree, but also
we must be realistic and
recognize that the retarded
to have special needs, and in
fact their safety and future
welfare should be our
priority. When we are told
"don't worry about a
resident falling from a
ladder on your property, this
has never happened before,"
or "the mildly retarded
residents at a Group Home
on Rideout Street in London
cross a busy intersection
everyday, and no one has
been hit by a car yet,"
possibly it's just as well that
we "normal people" can't
predict the- future, and the
mentally retarded don't
know what their future will
bring.
Louise Graham
Minaker says science biased
Dear Editor,
There is evidence in the
'scientific school of thought
that their previous theories
in regards to the creation of
man, and the world, has
brought them to a dead end.
They say now that a scientist
can have a personal belief in
God, but they are not permit -
td to recognize Him in their
Work. This theory, in my opi-
nion, is the same as hanging
a masterpiece of art on the
wall, and refusing to
"recognize the artist. •
A number of, years7-agO,
before the automobilej was
invented, it was thought by
the scientific community,
that if one was to exceed 40
or 50 miles an hour, one.
would not be able to breathe.
The. discovery of electrici-
ty was achieved by Ben-
jamin Franklin by playing
with a kite during a storm,
with a key on the end of a str-
ing, entirely outside the cir-
cle of science. It achieved
progress by -Edison, who was
considered mentally defi-
cient by his leachers, and
received the basic rudiments
of his education from his
mother.
He was responsible for the
inventions of moving pic-
tures and the phonograph.
Alexander Graham Bell
also received his basic
education at, home until he
wasten. More than likely, if
he had gone to school before
this age, the teachers would
have said he was also men-
tally lacking because of his
inability to hear properly.
The Wright brothers were
bicycle enthusiasts, who suc-
ceeded in overcoming the
laws of gravity by flaunting
all of the then -known
theories of aerodynamics.
Einstein was a high school
dropout who obtained a job
in a copyright office, but
eventually gave the scien-
tific world the formula for
'splittingthe atomA.