HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-04-04, Page 5lava_
ac
ea 1 • Per cent tax hike
Itter Hu*. county COOnoll.
aproved a $161 million OA,
get by a 21 to 7 recordedvote
at iti March 29 special meet,
Anitialattiope $301000 tp
the -county road department
aprVedat council's March 2.
Meeting and an addition to
reserves qt $199,000 account
r1
Ti
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THE INCOME TAX SPECIALISTS
328 Josephine St.
Open 9 AM - 6 PM Weekdays. Phone 357-3006
9 AM - 1 PM Saturday
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Just your blessings.
lhe Dominion of Canada Group
Mei/
INSURANCE BROKERS LTD.
357-2636
335-3525
Wingham Gorrie
taro percent**
4teaae. • 1
4 •
NOcouncillor sogested
eliminating 010 $320,090 from • •
the budget, hut Exeter
Reeve Bill Mickle wanted
the $190,000 removed from
the 1984 budget.
The end of \ DeceMber; -
the county had reserves
totaling $1.9 million of which
$1 .million was reserve for
working capital and $221,000
was for capital works build-
ing reserve fund. The 1984
budget will add $50,000 to the
working capital reserve and
$140,000 to the capital works
building reserve fund.
Reeve Mickle said taking
the $190,000 out off the budget
would bring the increase
down to 8.71 per cent.
"If there is no further cut-
ting, at least we got the
major portion out. I hope
council gives serious consid-
eration to this," said the
Exeter reeve.
However, county clerk -
treasurer Bill Hanly ex-
plained the $1 million work-
ing capital reserve is neces-
sary because at any time off
the year the county can find
itself owing $1 million while
provincial grant money has
not yet arrived.
"The reserve only covers
what we have in receipts,"
said Mr. Hanly.
Reeve Mickle questioned
the use of a capital works
building reserve fund. The
clerk -treasurer °said this
money is put aside for any
capital works and one con-
sideration for Huron County
is a new museum.
"If council passes a 13.6
per cent increase and we
don't get a big howl from the
county - if ratepayers ac-
cept this, then we may have
tough times dealing with
people," said Reeve Mickle,
suggesting employees may
request large salary in-
creases next year.
Several reeves said their
municipal councils support-
ed a letter circulated by the
Town of Goderich requesting
the county Co reduce its 1984
-budget. The latter was re-
ceived and filed by the coun-
ty.
Warden Tom Cunningham
of fitillet Township said his
.council didn't agree with the
Goderieh letter despite the
. fact that 'billet faces the
large& percentage increase
in its share of the county
levy. , •
Several reeves defended
the additional $300,000 put
into the road budget of $5.5
million, and Reeve Mickle
said he didn't want .that re-
moved from the budget.
"I never said cutting out of
the road" or any other com-
mittee budget was the an-
swer . I'm talking about
• the money allocated to work-
ing capital. That can stay at
$1 million," said Reeve
Mickle.
An amendment to the 1984
budget by the Exeter Reeve
•Which would have reduced
the budget by $100,000 was
turned down by a 20 to 8 re-
Wingbam Advance -Times, April 4, 1984 -Page 5
corded
loilt for that the
reserves oxvirkto,44dgett.,,,
PtfitOt the $300,000
0,4000 *C404.ast year,"
said' Turnberry Township
Reeve Brian McBurney.
Goderich Deputy Reeve
Jim firittoell, despitervotiag'
in favor of redueing reserves
and voting against the budg-
et, commented. that the
county portion, of his per-
sonal property tax levy has
come down from 17 per cent
in 1975 to nine per cent in
1983.
More than $3.9 million will
be raised this year from
local taxation with $9.1 mil-
lion in provincial grants ex-
pected.
Another large area of
revenue for the county are
fees and 'service charges of
$2.4 million. The largest in-
come in this area are fees
from Huronview residents of
$2.3 million. This willoffset
the Huronview budget of al-
most $5 million.
The 1983 surplus of $314,000
is included as revenue in the
1984 budget.
The largest expenditures
for the county are in social
services, which includes
general assistance, Huron -
view and Family and Chil-
VincentThis portion • ly ofoo
.0$tatim ' services,.
3,,904.104441r.
Wit at Godericb, togs
The rest fthe 1984 exPen-
,e1.111-401lco
services; $939,062
for neat'
for general. administration,
$901,20,1 for recreation and.
cultural services, WACO
for planningand develop-
ment and$104;21.5 for mem-
ber of conacil. •
Those yeting infa vet: of the
budget were EteriOS and
Deputy .13;eeVO. James
Aitchisea 'orlitest Wawa -
nosh, Leona OnStrong of
Grey Towt:t!Wtt,. Anthony
Bedard orflay, Hebert Bell
of . Tuaketini:Ith! Ernest
Brown W.Cliaton, Torn
Cronin of filyth,:' Tom Cun-
ningham of .Htillet, Bill El-
ston of Morris, Marie Hick-
nell of McKillop, Dave John-
ston of Bayfield, Russel
Kernighan ,of Colborne
Township, Joe Kerr of Wing -
ham, Harry. Klungel of Hen-
sall, Brian McBurney of
Turnberry, Gerry Prout off
Usborne, Jack Stafford of
Howick, Paul Steckle of
Stanley, Grant Stirling of
Goderich Township, Neil
Ralph Weber of Stepheu• ,
• bu"dgmete wvetriellgRleavInesat'ald°:''''
Deputy Reeves Jelin Austin
___70300ofo
Asrichfikeld,149JiMsofirirupthieeril of
EXater, NOM LaPorte of
, Zurich., Bill Miekle of
ttde eterric, ha "w41 tHhatTo Vo :Zell af
• The vote for the amend-
ment to the budget (reducing
the budget by $190,000) was
the reverse of the budget
• vote, except Reeve Elston
voted in favor of the amend-
ment and also voted in favor
of the budget.
Absent from the meeting
were William Campbell of
Seaforth, Calvin Krauter of
Brussels and Lionel Wilder
of Hay Township.
The county's net require-
ment for 1984 with 1983 net
requirements in brackets)
for the Town of Wingham,
the Townships of Howick and
Turnberry and the Villages
of Blyth and Brussels are as
follows: Wingham, $136,601
($125,586); Howick, $172,774
($148,765); Turnberry,
$88,263 ($77,979); Blyth,
$36,331 ($31,032); grUsse1S,
$35,699 ($32,178).
Huron education budget
up five per cent for '84
The education tax on an
assessment of $3,110 in
Huron County will increase
by $18 or 4.23 per cent in 1984
as a result of the $37 million
budget approved by the
Huron County Board of Edu-
cation at its meeting April 2.
This is up about five per
cent from last year's spend-
ing of $34 million.
"To hold the expenditure
portion of these estimates to
five per cent has taken a
major effort by every seg-
ment of this board's opera-
tion," said Education Direc-
tor Robert Allan.
It is the lowest year -over -
year increase we have ex-
perienced in many, many
years."
The 26 Huron County
municipalities will share in
paying over $12 million of the..
board's budget. The majori-
ty of the funding is from the
province, through the Minis-
try of Education, and has
only increased by 4.4 per
cent from last year for
Huron.
Provincial grants are ex-
pected to be over $22.7 mil-
lion, up from $21.7 million in
1983. The remainder of the
revenue of $1.5 million will'
• come from tuition paid by
other county boards of edu-
cation and rentals.
•On the expenditure side,
the largest single cost is for
salaries and benefits and
totals $28.3 million, up from
$26.7 million in 1983.
Transportation costs have
been estimated at $2.98 mil -
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Go Ele
lion, up from $2.78 million for
1983.
General supplies and serv-
ice costs are expected to cost
$2.2 million: These costs /
totaled $2 million in 1983.
• The operation and main-
tenance of all schools and the
administration centre is ex-
pected to cost $1.4 million, up
from $1.3 million in 1983.
Debenture payments for
the year are 3636,000. These,
are the payments made by
the board for the schools
built in the late 1960s. These
payments have declined
from $1 million in 1979. •
"The public should know
that we have had commit-
ment from the board, comit-
ment from all Of the commit-
tees, and commitment from
trustees individually to bring
in the•;mi,•ditnre estimated
at a five edent increase.
"Wehave attempted to be
a cost-conscious administra-
tion and we take some
modest credit for the fact
that we finished 1983 having
spent $390,963 less than the
amount originally esti-
mated," said Mr. Allan.
Chairman Eugene Frayne
said a very good job had
been done on the budget this
year.
There was little discussion
of the budget and Mr.
Frayne said the board had
"thoroughly discussed" it
during an in -camera session
prior to the open portion of
the meeting.
Trustee Tony McQuail
added that budget consid-
erations were discussed at
open committee meetings
such as education and man-
agement committees.
The main reason for the
decline in provincial dollars,
said Mr. Allan, is because of
the decline in student enrol-
ment.
He noted that the average
daily enrolment in Huron
County schools has declined
by 1,341 students since 1979.
The average daily enrol-
ments for 1984 is expected to
be 10,063 down 236 students
from 10,299 last year.
These figures, he noted,
are what the ministry bases
its grants on.
"The public needs to have
drawn to its attention again
the fact that our teaching
staff is being reduced to re-
flect the declining enrol-
ment. You will recall that the
teaching staff reduction was
approximately 11 teachers,"
he added.
LINDA WILSON, a Grade 8 student at the Howick Central School, explained the in-
tricacies of her science fair project to judges last Thursday afternoon. The judges are
Al White, a teacher from Norwell District Secondary School at Palmerston, Karen
Whiteman of the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority and John Gnay, a teacher at
the F. E. Madill Secondary School.
New store
to open
Wingham will have a new
jewelry and gift store May 1
when Adrian Bakelaar opens
his new establishment at the .
Zehrs plaza.
Mr. Bakelaar, a third -
generation jeweler, is a
member of the Bakelaar
family of Listowel which has
operated a jewelry store in
that town for 17 years.
When asked why he chose
Wingham to locate his new
store, Mr. Bakelaar said he
'thought the town seemed like
a friendly spot and added the
Zehrs plaza is an excellent
•placetoopen-a-business-
because it is always busy.
Also he said he has had
customers in the family's
Listowel store wondering
why they did not open a store
in Wingham, so he felt there
must be potential.
The new store will
specialize in diamonds and
watches, but also will have a
good supply of gifts, clocks
and crystal to name a few.
They will provide a jewelry
and watch repair service and
some jewelry design.
own taxes to rise
Continued from Page 1
trimmed slightly to " $73,500
for 1984. But as a reward for
its financial responsibility,
the money it saved will be set
aside to pay for scheduled
maintenance at the arena.
The cemetery budget of
$28,400 reflects a 36,000 raise
from last year. Mr. Kopas
explained this is to help pay
for a hydro line which the
• town wants to have run to the
cemetery.
Other areas show only
minor changes from last
year, apart from the 323,100
budgeted for council pay
Which is up by 46 per cent,
reflecting changes to council
honoraria and allowances
approved at the meeting
Monday night.
Overall, the budget for
town purposes is up by just
4.5 per cent to $1.4 million for
1984. However, because of •
the nature of the spending,
more of the money will have
to come directly from the
pockets of local ratepayers,
requiring the larger increase
in property taxes.
Apart from the review by
Mr. Kopas, there was vir-
tually no discussion of the
budget, which had been
hammered out by the
councillors during a series of
meetings with the finance
committee last month.
Council approved motions
adopting the 1984 budget in
principle and authorizing
departments to proceed with
spending -Within the
guidelines approved.
Early in the meeting
council agreed to take'
another look at the pollee
committee budget after
hearing from Police Chief
• Robert Wittig that he is
unhappy with the budget set
by that committee.
In a special presentation to
council, the chief said while
he was reluctant to come to
council, feeling he was in a
"no-win situation", he is not
satisfied with the existing
budget or the way it was set.
He told council cuts were
made by the committee
"without consultation" in the
budgets for fuel, phones,
administration and vehicle
maintenance as well as
capital expenditures, and
said he is concerned that
relations between council
and the police will become
more strained.
If the committee thinks the
administration of the depart-
ment is not good enough -it
should say so, he said, "not -
chip away and do damage it
might take a generation to
undo."
Councillor Tom Miller,
police chairman, told council
his committee is willing to
reconsider and invited° any
interested councillors to
attend its next meeting April
24 and make proposals. In
the meantime, the budget
was sent back to the com-
mittee for reconsideration.
Following the council
meeting, Mr. Miller said the
cuts had been made in an
effort to get the department
to operate more efficiently,
but he added it had all been
done in consultation with the
chief and there had been
bargaining back and forth
over individual items.
He said the reason for
cutting back the fuel
allowance was to encourage
more efficient use of the
cruiser by not taking it out,of
town as much, doing more
foot patrols and turning the
engine off when it is parked.
When the chief protested, the
fuel budget • ital restored by
trimming some other areas.
He also .said he does not
see the need for four
Filter
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"IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN VARNA"
482-7103
Here today, here tomorrow
to serve your hearing needs.
Beltone has been serving the hearing needs
of people in this area for more than 25 years.
More important to you, we expect to go on
•--servin-g-th-emlia many years to come. '
telephones in the police
office since there are never
more than three people on
duty there at one time.
"We tried to get a
responsible budget and
that's what we came up
With," he said. "We're not
asking for a big change in the
policing of the community;
just be more efficient in the
use of the cruiser."
Mr. Miller said the com-
mittee had looked at com-
parisons with policing costs
in other towns and he was
satisfied it could support its
decisions, though he added
that if someone else can
provide facts to support a
different position the
committee is ready to listen.
In other budget business,
council heard from Art
Clark, a Wingham trustee on
the Huron County Board of
Education, ' that the board
had set its budget earlier
that day.
Overall the budget is up by
five per cent over last year,
he reported, but according to
preliminary figures the levy
for Wingham will be prac-
tically unchanged from last
year, with a slight decrease
in the secondary levy and a
slight increase in the
elementary school levy.
Council also endorsed a
resolution from the Town of
Goderich protesting a
proposed 13 per cent in-
crease in the Huron County
budget.
Reeve Joe Kerr said the
county budget is not finalized
et, "they're still fighting
over the roads budget," but
he does not expect it will be
decreased.
Councillor James A. Currie
declared a 13 per cent in-
crease is "outrageous" and
said Wingham should cer-
tainly support the Goderich
protest in principle.
When you -buy a ---hearing. aid fronfoila;2-yOU -
'know we'll be here to provide service when
you need it.
Come in and see us at the regular monthly
service clinic at
VANCE'S PHARMACY
FRIDAY, APRIL 13
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
J D. FAIR Reg. O.H.A.A. Hearing Aid
Specialist
Stratford Office
) 145 Ontario St.
1041EN A HEARING
AID WILL HELP 273-2118
COMMUNffY CALENDAR
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WINGHAM 357-2636 GORRIE 335-3525
Thurs., April 5 to Wed. April 11
Thurs.April 5 Federation Meeting, Huron Fed. of
.
-AgaicuLtum,--Cruiest. Speaker, Blyth_Public
School, 8:30 p.m.
"Ladies Great Ride for Cancer" coming up
April 29.
Wingham PUC Meeting; 7:30 p.m.
Fri. April 6 Lucknow Home & Garden Show, Lucknow
Comm. Centre, 6:30 to 9 p.m. and Sat.
April 7.
Sat. April 7 Flea Market, -Day Centre for the Home-
bound, Wingham Armouries, 10 a.m. to 4
p.m.
Garage Sale, St. Paul's Anglican Parish
•• Hall, Wingham 9 to 3.
Workshop, Women & Employment, Exeter
High School, 9. a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Phone
482-9706 for Information.
40th Wedding Anniversary Reception, Mr.
and Mrs. Ronald Coulees, Wingham
Legion, 8 p.m.
Sun. April 8 50th Wedding Anniversary, Open House
• for Mr. and Mrs, Bob McMurray, Bluevale
Comm. Hall, 2 to 5 p.m. ••
Mon. April 9 Meeting, La Leche, Colleen Schenkts,
Maitland Court, Wingham, 8 p.m.
Pre-Schoolers Reading Time, Wingham
Public School Library, 10 a.m.
Tues. April 10 Euchre Party, Maitland Institute, Wingham
Town Hall, 8 p.m.
Crisis Centre Speaker at Opti -Mrs. Meeting.
Any interested persons welcome, Wingham
Council Chambers, 8430 p.m.
Wed. April 11 Homemaker's Annual Meeting, Guest
Speaker. For information call 357-2913 or
357-3222.
Annual Meeting, Wingham Figure Skating
Club, Lockridge Mem. Arena, 8 p.m.
Huron County Science Fair, Turnbetry
Public School, April 11 • 13.
ROXY HOME VIDEO
Great Family Entertainment
241 Josephine St., Wingham
Phone 357-3373
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IF YOUR ANNUAL
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YOUR -MONTHLY
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• WOULD BE...
$240.
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$480.
$40.
$720.
$60.
We'd like to th.nk that when you
buy a policy from The Dominion,
you'll never have to count sheep.
Just your blessings.
lhe Dominion of Canada Group
Mei/
INSURANCE BROKERS LTD.
357-2636
335-3525
Wingham Gorrie
taro percent**
4teaae. • 1
4 •
NOcouncillor sogested
eliminating 010 $320,090 from • •
the budget, hut Exeter
Reeve Bill Mickle wanted
the $190,000 removed from
the 1984 budget.
The end of \ DeceMber; -
the county had reserves
totaling $1.9 million of which
$1 .million was reserve for
working capital and $221,000
was for capital works build-
ing reserve fund. The 1984
budget will add $50,000 to the
working capital reserve and
$140,000 to the capital works
building reserve fund.
Reeve Mickle said taking
the $190,000 out off the budget
would bring the increase
down to 8.71 per cent.
"If there is no further cut-
ting, at least we got the
major portion out. I hope
council gives serious consid-
eration to this," said the
Exeter reeve.
However, county clerk -
treasurer Bill Hanly ex-
plained the $1 million work-
ing capital reserve is neces-
sary because at any time off
the year the county can find
itself owing $1 million while
provincial grant money has
not yet arrived.
"The reserve only covers
what we have in receipts,"
said Mr. Hanly.
Reeve Mickle questioned
the use of a capital works
building reserve fund. The
clerk -treasurer °said this
money is put aside for any
capital works and one con-
sideration for Huron County
is a new museum.
"If council passes a 13.6
per cent increase and we
don't get a big howl from the
county - if ratepayers ac-
cept this, then we may have
tough times dealing with
people," said Reeve Mickle,
suggesting employees may
request large salary in-
creases next year.
Several reeves said their
municipal councils support-
ed a letter circulated by the
Town of Goderich requesting
the county Co reduce its 1984
-budget. The latter was re-
ceived and filed by the coun-
ty.
Warden Tom Cunningham
of fitillet Township said his
.council didn't agree with the
Goderieh letter despite the
. fact that 'billet faces the
large& percentage increase
in its share of the county
levy. , •
Several reeves defended
the additional $300,000 put
into the road budget of $5.5
million, and Reeve Mickle
said he didn't want .that re-
moved from the budget.
"I never said cutting out of
the road" or any other com-
mittee budget was the an-
swer . I'm talking about
• the money allocated to work-
ing capital. That can stay at
$1 million," said Reeve
Mickle.
An amendment to the 1984
budget by the Exeter Reeve
•Which would have reduced
the budget by $100,000 was
turned down by a 20 to 8 re-
Wingbam Advance -Times, April 4, 1984 -Page 5
corded
loilt for that the
reserves oxvirkto,44dgett.,,,
PtfitOt the $300,000
0,4000 *C404.ast year,"
said' Turnberry Township
Reeve Brian McBurney.
Goderich Deputy Reeve
Jim firittoell, despitervotiag'
in favor of redueing reserves
and voting against the budg-
et, commented. that the
county portion, of his per-
sonal property tax levy has
come down from 17 per cent
in 1975 to nine per cent in
1983.
More than $3.9 million will
be raised this year from
local taxation with $9.1 mil-
lion in provincial grants ex-
pected.
Another large area of
revenue for the county are
fees and 'service charges of
$2.4 million. The largest in-
come in this area are fees
from Huronview residents of
$2.3 million. This willoffset
the Huronview budget of al-
most $5 million.
The 1983 surplus of $314,000
is included as revenue in the
1984 budget.
The largest expenditures
for the county are in social
services, which includes
general assistance, Huron -
view and Family and Chil-
VincentThis portion • ly ofoo
.0$tatim ' services,.
3,,904.104441r.
Wit at Godericb, togs
The rest fthe 1984 exPen-
,e1.111-401lco
services; $939,062
for neat'
for general. administration,
$901,20,1 for recreation and.
cultural services, WACO
for planningand develop-
ment and$104;21.5 for mem-
ber of conacil. •
Those yeting infa vet: of the
budget were EteriOS and
Deputy .13;eeVO. James
Aitchisea 'orlitest Wawa -
nosh, Leona OnStrong of
Grey Towt:t!Wtt,. Anthony
Bedard orflay, Hebert Bell
of . Tuaketini:Ith! Ernest
Brown W.Cliaton, Torn
Cronin of filyth,:' Tom Cun-
ningham of .Htillet, Bill El-
ston of Morris, Marie Hick-
nell of McKillop, Dave John-
ston of Bayfield, Russel
Kernighan ,of Colborne
Township, Joe Kerr of Wing -
ham, Harry. Klungel of Hen-
sall, Brian McBurney of
Turnberry, Gerry Prout off
Usborne, Jack Stafford of
Howick, Paul Steckle of
Stanley, Grant Stirling of
Goderich Township, Neil
Ralph Weber of Stepheu• ,
• bu"dgmete wvetriellgRleavInesat'ald°:''''
Deputy Reeves Jelin Austin
___70300ofo
Asrichfikeld,149JiMsofirirupthieeril of
EXater, NOM LaPorte of
, Zurich., Bill Miekle of
ttde eterric, ha "w41 tHhatTo Vo :Zell af
• The vote for the amend-
ment to the budget (reducing
the budget by $190,000) was
the reverse of the budget
• vote, except Reeve Elston
voted in favor of the amend-
ment and also voted in favor
of the budget.
Absent from the meeting
were William Campbell of
Seaforth, Calvin Krauter of
Brussels and Lionel Wilder
of Hay Township.
The county's net require-
ment for 1984 with 1983 net
requirements in brackets)
for the Town of Wingham,
the Townships of Howick and
Turnberry and the Villages
of Blyth and Brussels are as
follows: Wingham, $136,601
($125,586); Howick, $172,774
($148,765); Turnberry,
$88,263 ($77,979); Blyth,
$36,331 ($31,032); grUsse1S,
$35,699 ($32,178).
Huron education budget
up five per cent for '84
The education tax on an
assessment of $3,110 in
Huron County will increase
by $18 or 4.23 per cent in 1984
as a result of the $37 million
budget approved by the
Huron County Board of Edu-
cation at its meeting April 2.
This is up about five per
cent from last year's spend-
ing of $34 million.
"To hold the expenditure
portion of these estimates to
five per cent has taken a
major effort by every seg-
ment of this board's opera-
tion," said Education Direc-
tor Robert Allan.
It is the lowest year -over -
year increase we have ex-
perienced in many, many
years."
The 26 Huron County
municipalities will share in
paying over $12 million of the..
board's budget. The majori-
ty of the funding is from the
province, through the Minis-
try of Education, and has
only increased by 4.4 per
cent from last year for
Huron.
Provincial grants are ex-
pected to be over $22.7 mil-
lion, up from $21.7 million in
1983. The remainder of the
revenue of $1.5 million will'
• come from tuition paid by
other county boards of edu-
cation and rentals.
•On the expenditure side,
the largest single cost is for
salaries and benefits and
totals $28.3 million, up from
$26.7 million in 1983.
Transportation costs have
been estimated at $2.98 mil -
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lion, up from $2.78 million for
1983.
General supplies and serv-
ice costs are expected to cost
$2.2 million: These costs /
totaled $2 million in 1983.
• The operation and main-
tenance of all schools and the
administration centre is ex-
pected to cost $1.4 million, up
from $1.3 million in 1983.
Debenture payments for
the year are 3636,000. These,
are the payments made by
the board for the schools
built in the late 1960s. These
payments have declined
from $1 million in 1979. •
"The public should know
that we have had commit-
ment from the board, comit-
ment from all Of the commit-
tees, and commitment from
trustees individually to bring
in the•;mi,•ditnre estimated
at a five edent increase.
"Wehave attempted to be
a cost-conscious administra-
tion and we take some
modest credit for the fact
that we finished 1983 having
spent $390,963 less than the
amount originally esti-
mated," said Mr. Allan.
Chairman Eugene Frayne
said a very good job had
been done on the budget this
year.
There was little discussion
of the budget and Mr.
Frayne said the board had
"thoroughly discussed" it
during an in -camera session
prior to the open portion of
the meeting.
Trustee Tony McQuail
added that budget consid-
erations were discussed at
open committee meetings
such as education and man-
agement committees.
The main reason for the
decline in provincial dollars,
said Mr. Allan, is because of
the decline in student enrol-
ment.
He noted that the average
daily enrolment in Huron
County schools has declined
by 1,341 students since 1979.
The average daily enrol-
ments for 1984 is expected to
be 10,063 down 236 students
from 10,299 last year.
These figures, he noted,
are what the ministry bases
its grants on.
"The public needs to have
drawn to its attention again
the fact that our teaching
staff is being reduced to re-
flect the declining enrol-
ment. You will recall that the
teaching staff reduction was
approximately 11 teachers,"
he added.
LINDA WILSON, a Grade 8 student at the Howick Central School, explained the in-
tricacies of her science fair project to judges last Thursday afternoon. The judges are
Al White, a teacher from Norwell District Secondary School at Palmerston, Karen
Whiteman of the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority and John Gnay, a teacher at
the F. E. Madill Secondary School.
New store
to open
Wingham will have a new
jewelry and gift store May 1
when Adrian Bakelaar opens
his new establishment at the .
Zehrs plaza.
Mr. Bakelaar, a third -
generation jeweler, is a
member of the Bakelaar
family of Listowel which has
operated a jewelry store in
that town for 17 years.
When asked why he chose
Wingham to locate his new
store, Mr. Bakelaar said he
'thought the town seemed like
a friendly spot and added the
Zehrs plaza is an excellent
•placetoopen-a-business-
because it is always busy.
Also he said he has had
customers in the family's
Listowel store wondering
why they did not open a store
in Wingham, so he felt there
must be potential.
The new store will
specialize in diamonds and
watches, but also will have a
good supply of gifts, clocks
and crystal to name a few.
They will provide a jewelry
and watch repair service and
some jewelry design.
own taxes to rise
Continued from Page 1
trimmed slightly to " $73,500
for 1984. But as a reward for
its financial responsibility,
the money it saved will be set
aside to pay for scheduled
maintenance at the arena.
The cemetery budget of
$28,400 reflects a 36,000 raise
from last year. Mr. Kopas
explained this is to help pay
for a hydro line which the
• town wants to have run to the
cemetery.
Other areas show only
minor changes from last
year, apart from the 323,100
budgeted for council pay
Which is up by 46 per cent,
reflecting changes to council
honoraria and allowances
approved at the meeting
Monday night.
Overall, the budget for
town purposes is up by just
4.5 per cent to $1.4 million for
1984. However, because of •
the nature of the spending,
more of the money will have
to come directly from the
pockets of local ratepayers,
requiring the larger increase
in property taxes.
Apart from the review by
Mr. Kopas, there was vir-
tually no discussion of the
budget, which had been
hammered out by the
councillors during a series of
meetings with the finance
committee last month.
Council approved motions
adopting the 1984 budget in
principle and authorizing
departments to proceed with
spending -Within the
guidelines approved.
Early in the meeting
council agreed to take'
another look at the pollee
committee budget after
hearing from Police Chief
• Robert Wittig that he is
unhappy with the budget set
by that committee.
In a special presentation to
council, the chief said while
he was reluctant to come to
council, feeling he was in a
"no-win situation", he is not
satisfied with the existing
budget or the way it was set.
He told council cuts were
made by the committee
"without consultation" in the
budgets for fuel, phones,
administration and vehicle
maintenance as well as
capital expenditures, and
said he is concerned that
relations between council
and the police will become
more strained.
If the committee thinks the
administration of the depart-
ment is not good enough -it
should say so, he said, "not -
chip away and do damage it
might take a generation to
undo."
Councillor Tom Miller,
police chairman, told council
his committee is willing to
reconsider and invited° any
interested councillors to
attend its next meeting April
24 and make proposals. In
the meantime, the budget
was sent back to the com-
mittee for reconsideration.
Following the council
meeting, Mr. Miller said the
cuts had been made in an
effort to get the department
to operate more efficiently,
but he added it had all been
done in consultation with the
chief and there had been
bargaining back and forth
over individual items.
He said the reason for
cutting back the fuel
allowance was to encourage
more efficient use of the
cruiser by not taking it out,of
town as much, doing more
foot patrols and turning the
engine off when it is parked.
When the chief protested, the
fuel budget • ital restored by
trimming some other areas.
He also .said he does not
see the need for four
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Beltone has been serving the hearing needs
of people in this area for more than 25 years.
More important to you, we expect to go on
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telephones in the police
office since there are never
more than three people on
duty there at one time.
"We tried to get a
responsible budget and
that's what we came up
With," he said. "We're not
asking for a big change in the
policing of the community;
just be more efficient in the
use of the cruiser."
Mr. Miller said the com-
mittee had looked at com-
parisons with policing costs
in other towns and he was
satisfied it could support its
decisions, though he added
that if someone else can
provide facts to support a
different position the
committee is ready to listen.
In other budget business,
council heard from Art
Clark, a Wingham trustee on
the Huron County Board of
Education, ' that the board
had set its budget earlier
that day.
Overall the budget is up by
five per cent over last year,
he reported, but according to
preliminary figures the levy
for Wingham will be prac-
tically unchanged from last
year, with a slight decrease
in the secondary levy and a
slight increase in the
elementary school levy.
Council also endorsed a
resolution from the Town of
Goderich protesting a
proposed 13 per cent in-
crease in the Huron County
budget.
Reeve Joe Kerr said the
county budget is not finalized
et, "they're still fighting
over the roads budget," but
he does not expect it will be
decreased.
Councillor James A. Currie
declared a 13 per cent in-
crease is "outrageous" and
said Wingham should cer-
tainly support the Goderich
protest in principle.
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WINGHAM 357-2636 GORRIE 335-3525
Thurs., April 5 to Wed. April 11
Thurs.April 5 Federation Meeting, Huron Fed. of
.
-AgaicuLtum,--Cruiest. Speaker, Blyth_Public
School, 8:30 p.m.
"Ladies Great Ride for Cancer" coming up
April 29.
Wingham PUC Meeting; 7:30 p.m.
Fri. April 6 Lucknow Home & Garden Show, Lucknow
Comm. Centre, 6:30 to 9 p.m. and Sat.
April 7.
Sat. April 7 Flea Market, -Day Centre for the Home-
bound, Wingham Armouries, 10 a.m. to 4
p.m.
Garage Sale, St. Paul's Anglican Parish
•• Hall, Wingham 9 to 3.
Workshop, Women & Employment, Exeter
High School, 9. a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Phone
482-9706 for Information.
40th Wedding Anniversary Reception, Mr.
and Mrs. Ronald Coulees, Wingham
Legion, 8 p.m.
Sun. April 8 50th Wedding Anniversary, Open House
• for Mr. and Mrs, Bob McMurray, Bluevale
Comm. Hall, 2 to 5 p.m. ••
Mon. April 9 Meeting, La Leche, Colleen Schenkts,
Maitland Court, Wingham, 8 p.m.
Pre-Schoolers Reading Time, Wingham
Public School Library, 10 a.m.
Tues. April 10 Euchre Party, Maitland Institute, Wingham
Town Hall, 8 p.m.
Crisis Centre Speaker at Opti -Mrs. Meeting.
Any interested persons welcome, Wingham
Council Chambers, 8430 p.m.
Wed. April 11 Homemaker's Annual Meeting, Guest
Speaker. For information call 357-2913 or
357-3222.
Annual Meeting, Wingham Figure Skating
Club, Lockridge Mem. Arena, 8 p.m.
Huron County Science Fair, Turnbetry
Public School, April 11 • 13.
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