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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWingham Advance-Times, 1977-09-28, Page 2Ohl a1 dvance-Timea, September 28. 1977 cillors sharply divided front page) He said he Ilea of government any portion of farm taxes tiinnuldlead to farmers los- utrol of their own land. "If ti> eat pays the bills, five Own the road government be telling us what to do with , land," predicted Elston. "If We accept that, we're selling out the County of Huron." As a general rule, Elston said, :rural and residential assessment will be., increased under the new system, while ' commercial and industrial assessment will be down. Reeve Calvin Kreuter of Brus sels defended the businessmen; He said there is "nothing fair about business assessment" be- cause, Mr. Kreuter said, the businessman pays a surcharge on his taxes regardless of the business he does. "I'm not argu- ing for me alone. I've heard this complaint for years from busi- ness people," said Mr. Kreuter. "If everybody paid their just tax on their real property, we'd have the money and the say so. To hell with Hepburn's grants that started in 1931." Reeve Gerry Ginn of Goderich Township said the Blair Com- mission had set out to make the taxation system more equitable for everyone. "We all should pay our fair taxes," Mr. Ginn agreed. "The system we have today is not fair. It is outdated and even if the Blair report is implemented, we will have to look hard at all these things all the time to make sure things have not changed. We all agree the more you make, the more you should pay. Similarly where land taxes are concerned, v' -A the more you own, the more you should pay." ADMINISTRATOLI TRIES TO EXPLAIN County Administrator Bill Hanly urged council to logk at the Blair report as government tax reform rather than a ploy to take control of the province's farm - !and. "The government isn't tak- ing over the farms," said Mr. Hanly. "It is a new method to get money to pay for the programs the municipalities are going to operate." Hanley explained that while assessment may be up 10 times over the present rate, the mill rate would only be one-tenth as much as it is now. "Just because the system is changed, the municipalities aren't going to need more money to operate," argued Hanly. "If your municipality is now working on a $200,000 budget, it isn't suddenly going to need 10 times that much. The ' elected people will still be responsible, and re- sponsible to the same people." He predicted the system as en- visioned by the Blair Commission would be fairer. Hanly said that if cottage owners, for instance, should be paying a larger share in a municipality like Goderich Township, they would be paying a larger share if their assessments were tied to the market value of the properties. In an urban municipality, two homes, each valued at $40,000 would be paying the same amount of property tax and he suggested that some homeowners would pay more while some would pay less than under the present system. A similar result would occur in business and commercial build - lags "Youwould be raising the same amount of money," Mr. Haply insisted, "but it is a redistribu- tion of shares on what would appear to be, I think, a fairer system." Hanley also pointed out that how much a businessman makes per annum on his property has nothing to do with the value of the property. He said an indiviudal's earnings are another matter "And that's straightened out in income tax". MORE IDEAS "I don't -see anything wrong with the system we've got now," said Reeve Bob Lyons of West Wawanosh. "I don't mind paying half the taxes on my farm. When I can't pay half then I'll quit farming." "McKillop is 90 per cent agri- cultural," said Reeve Allan Campbell of McKillop. "If 90 per cent of all the taxes are paid by government, what difference would it make how high the assessment goes? Why not pave all the roads?" Gerry Ginn, a member of the executive committee, said Campbell was forgetting that farmers will be paying all the taxes on their homes and the land surrounding them. The 90 per cent would apply to only barns, sheds and farmland. He , estimated that when things were all evened out, there would be very little change for the average farmer in actual dollars and cents paid out for taxes. "What is market value?" asked Ervin Sillery of 'Tucker - smith. Bill Hanly said while it is true Our friends in our Sister City of Standish, Michigan have invited us over for a weekend of fun and games on Oct. 29th and 30th. There will be a meeting on Sept. 13 for everybody who is interested We want people from all walks of life to attend, teachers, farmers, lawyers, students .. . If, interest is keen enough, we will charter o bus and perhaps we may even mak a this a yearly event. "PARTICIPATE" - you may like it! See the exciting '78 SKI-DOO with the two winter warranty if purchased.before Dec. 1. at the ROAD AND SNOW SHOW Wingham Town Park * Thursday,•Odtober 6 ®5:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. "ELAN FOR '78" WITH SLIDERS We will also be showing our, new '78 HONDA C B 400 Deposit tickets for the free draw at our display or showroom. Help us celebrate our 8th anniversary with Ski®Doo and Honda! * In case of bad weather we will be having Open House at our Showrooms Thurs., Oct. 6 and Fri., Oct. 7. GO DOO4T! LYNN HOY ENTERPRISES Highway East, Wingham Tel. 357-3435 that some property is worth more to some buyers than to others, the inflated prices paid for real estate in the future would affect the estimated market value for taxation purposes. "If you pay an inflated price for a piece of property, the assessors are likely to come back into that neighborhood and restudy all the homes to determine if the market value has increased' there, "said Mr. Hanly. Mr. Hanly said he'd always be- lieved that everyone should be his own assessor. The price a person put on his real estate should 'be the price he would be prepared to pay taxes on as well as sell his property for when the time came to sell it. Reeve Bill Clifford of Goderich said he'd talked to assessors about this point and was con- vinced that thaNarket value would be determined on a scale which would be the mean — not the high, not the low. Frank Cook, reeve of Clinton, said equalized assessment is now obsolete although it had cost the county thousands and thousands of dollars to change over from the previous system of municipal assessors. "How much is this new system going to cost us?" asked Mr. Cook. "How many new assessors are we going to have to hire to solve this problem?" Hanly said there is every, in- dication the Huron -Perth Re- gional Assessment Office would be able to make the changes without any additional staff. "And they have less staff now than they had two years ago," said Mr. Hanly. Seaforth Reeve John Flannery said the whole system is just to permit "under the table 'borrow- ing for the provincial govern- ment". Bayfield Reeve Ed' Oddleifson said he was concerned about where the money would come from. "If it is not coming from the farmer, where does it come from?" asked the Bayfield rep- resentative. Harold Robinson of tiowick felt there should be more figures for comparison purposes. Simon P. Hallahan of East Wawanosh said," I think we should take a pretty close look at someone picking up the tab for us." A computer printout showing current assessed values ante market values for each ttiuni- cipality in Huron has been received from the Ministry of Treasury, Economics and.Inter- governmental Affairs. - It was stressed this., information was "very preliminary and- not com- plete" and that accurate com- parisons could not be made. However, based on several assumptions, a schedule of com- parison was prepared by the clerk -treasurer's office. "It would appear ' from this comparison that as a general 'rule, village and town apportion- ments for county purposes will be down while township apportion- ments will be up," the executive committee reported. In the figures supplied with the report, all villages and towns showed a decrease in their appor- tionment for courity purposes while only one township — Tuckersmith — registered a reduced percentage. V.C.W. discusses Canadian family, Canadians' concerns • and Christian responses was the topic for the study period of the Bel - more United Church Women. The changing family in Canada was also discussed. The Vanier Institute of the family has said, "The family changes the word and the world changes the family". President Alice Mawhinney opened the meeting with a poem. Betty Darling was in charge of the devotions which were opened with the singing of "Amazing Grace". The scripture reading was Mark 12:28-34. Roll call was, "A penny for each centimeter of your waist measurement". Fifteen ladies measured in at $13.36. Correspondence was read by Laurine Wright, and Mrs. Dar- ling gave khe financial report. Ellen Inglis reported on current literature. Janice Wright gave a report of the church's financial status. • During the business period, plans were discussed for a dinner which is being catered to Nov. 18. The president informed the ladies of a UCW retreat which is to be iit1d .at Silver Lake ^n Oct 12 from 9:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The offering was received and dedicated. A Bible quiz on the lives of Moses and Jesus was con- ducted by Mary Renwick. The meeting was closed with prayer and lunch was served. CHILDRENS' SPECIAL—Keith Lapsley of Guelph will be at the Wingham Bible Chapel Oct. 3 to 7 to introduce children to Jesus Christ and to tell the Bible story. Mr. Lapsley has travelled extensively in Canada and the United States and uses puppets, filmstrips, songs and contests as part of his program. The program will run each evening from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. What's new at Huronview? William McCurdy of Exeter was Welcomed to the Home at Monday's program. Mrs. Mait- land Driver, Molly Cox, Norman Speir and Cecil Skinner provided the old time music. The Goderich Township Women's Institute volunteers assisted with the activities and Morgan Dalton helped to lead the sing -a -long. Ken Salter from the Bluersater Centre at Goderich showed a color film of the Goderich bi- centennial parade for the "Family Night" program. Everyone enjoyed seeing the parade again in pict es with special interest in the oat which included one of our residents, Mrs. Gladys Henry, the cen- tennial queen in 1927. The Seaforth Happy Citizens' Club. were hosts for the Septem- ber birthday party. Lorne Dennis, president of the club, was emcee for the program and did the calling for the square dance by eight of -the Seaforth Seniors, accompanied at the piano ,by Mrs. Elsie Henderson. There were readings by Mrs. Mabel. Scott, Mrs. Lillian Pepper and Joe White; violinsolos by Stanley Hillen; mouth organ selections by Lorne Lawson. Mrs. Edith Dunlop accompanied at the piano for the musical numbers and Mrs. Minnie Hayter, who was celebrating her 80th birthday, thanked the club on behalf of the residents. Puppets are used for Bible story Puppets, filmstrips, songs and contests will be part of an Adventure Week Program at the Wingham Bible hapei, Boland Street for children ages 5 to 12. It is to be held Oct. 3 to 7 from 7 p,m. to 8 p.m. The purpose of the week is to -introduce childree tovie-Lord' Jesus Christand the main emphasis will be on the Bible story with the use 9f an overhead projector. The program will be under the direction of Keith . Lapsley of Guelph..A former school teacher in Toronto, Mr. Lapsley stresses the need for spiritual training as a • necessity for each .per 's development. He alsoputs great importance on teaching the Bible to children through the use of challenging and interesting stories. He has travelled to many parts of Canada and the United States. Crowds vary, but it is not uncom- mon for 100 or more children to attend. 4 All are welcome. to attend but a special invitation to those in the 5 to 12 age group is extended. 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