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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1977-03-09, Page 4Page,4 March 9, 1977 1 DECIDED To PAY MY TAXES WITH A SMILE THIS 'jENi1 HUT THEY INSISTO ON LnSH "Let's see, dependents --wife, two children, Polysar, Otto Lang, rhe Olympics, Candu ... " Property taxes A resolution is circulating among area municipalities proposing the federal government be asked to allow property taxes to be a direct deduction from per- sonal income tax. While this may sound like a good idea on the surface, if all the im- plications of such a move are considered we believe this would not be a very wise move. In the first place, property tax' is a regressive tax in that we pay an assessed amount on any property we own regardless of our income. The Ontario government was successful some years ago in per- suading the federal government to allow the province a property tax credit on in- come taxes. This removed some of the regressiveness of property taxes by allow- ing those with lower incomes to receive rebates on property taxes. The more money you made, the less rebate you would receive. This was a major breakthrough in federal provincial fiscal arrangements and we believe it would be very detrimental to have this system abolished. If property tax- es were deductions on income taxes, the present rebate system would have to be abolished and those in higher income brackets would benefit at the expense of those in the lower income brackets. If you don't have a large income, then the proper- ty tax deduction would do you no good so those in lower income brackets would be paying proportionately more. Also, the local municipalities are always needing more money and taxes seem to rise every year. If property taxes were a deduction from your federal income tax, the municipality could feel more freedom to raise those property taxes at an even higher rate than they are presently. After all, they could say the raise doesn't mean anything because you just save that money on your income tax, which is true IF you are making enough money to enable you to use those taxes as a deduction. Once again, this would tend to benefit those in the higher income brackets at the expense of those in the lower and middle brackets. The property taxes have to be paid and if you don't have the income to deduct such taxes off of, higher property taxes could be a great burden. Such a direct deduction on federal in- come taxes would also reduce the revenue the federal government would receive from income taxes. They in turn could pass this reduction in income on to the provinces by reducing the 'amount of financial aid to the provinces. The provinces in turn could reduce the amount of aid they give to the municipalities thus putting pressure on them to get money in other ways and voila, we have come full circle as the municipali- ty might be only too ready to raise the property taxes and get the extra income that way. It seems to us allowing property taxes to be a direct deduction off federal income, taxes would only succeed in putting us one step backward. Instead of having legisla- tion to even the tax burden between the rich and the poor such as the Ontario tax credit, system now in use, we would only end up with higher property taxes paid by everyone with the wealthy passing the higher taxes on to the government in the form of a tax deduction and the middle and lower income brackets bearing all the burden. We sincerely hope the municipalities in thearea seriously consider all the im- plications of such a resolution before they agree with it. To the Editor: - February 16, Hay Township Reeve, Jack Tinney, reported that the Council had a meeting with a delegation of the road from Highway 84 to Dashwood. I was one of those delegates and I feel that Mr. Tinney did not report everything. Mr. Tinney says he drove that section of road several times last summer and that the same section of road was in good condition. • Mr. Tinney likely followed the grader (grading the road) and that was only three or four times during last summer. This section of road was so rough that the wheel discs flew• off the wheels on the cars. On Sunday, February 14, 1977 the roads were closed from Sunday's snow storm. This section of road was closed until 1:30 in the afternoon until the plow came, all other roads in Hay Township opened by 9:00 that morning. Our section of road was the only one where the school buses were not going. Mr. Tinney says that the Township tries to have all the roads open by noon I feel the roads should be opened for school buses and for all the people who have to go to work by 7:00 like it used to be. Also I feel that we were not treated fairly at the meeting. Mr. Tinney says that there was a lot of shouting and raving going on, but Mr. Tinney was the one who started the shouting and raving at us when we walked into the Council Chambers. I have to agree there was shouting from our side also. We were told also by Mr. Haberer and by Mr. Tinney that it says in the By Law that they do not have to plow the roads, it is just a service he told us and Mr. Tinney did not report this to the newspaper. The meeting went on for about an hour and Mr. Tinney told us we better go now because we had wasted one hour of Council's time. I feel that Mr. Tinney and his Council and Superintendent Mr. Haberer have wasted several of our days the last two winters for not plowing the roads on time in Hay Township. Mr. Tinney also told us the people in the west part of Hay Township are living in the banana belt. I feel that our section of road has not been serviced in the last two years (winter and summer) because it is just a service and it is a well paid service through the tax dollars of the ratepayers of Hay Township. Marien Vanderhoek ck t., the s Well, I'm back in the land of ice and snow and it is a shock to the system. When I got on the plane to return home after two sun -filled weeks in the sunny south the temperature was 78 fahrenheit degrees, When I got off the plane in Toronto the temperature was 34 fahrenheit degrees. It is definitely not nice to be home! All you smoking fiends out there should be glad you live in Canada rather than Finland. In Finland cigarettes cost $1.20 a package and it is now illegal to smoke anywhere where there is free access by the public. This includes all public offices, taxis, buses, stores, and restaurants. The law is being rigidly enforced with stiff fines for offenders. The fines, by theway, are based on the income of the offender. 4 It seems the "pranksters" of the village have been at it again. They have come out of their winter's hibernation to once again exhibit their immaturity and stupidity before the world. Mr. Oesch placed a broom outside the door of his store to enable patrons to brush the slush and snow from their boots before entering the shop. Some imbecile decided to take advantage of Mr. Oesch's thoughtfulness and set the broom on fire leaving the remains on the sidewalk. It takes all kinds to make a world, but there are a few kinds we could all do without. As the snow slowly starts to melt and visions of flowers and green grass dance in our heads, there is one more thing we should consider. Under all that snow, there is likely a lot of trash hanging around that has• been buried at one time or another over the long winter months. The sight of brown melting snow is bad enough but to see that snow littered with all sorts of goodies is really quite a sight. If we all make the attempt, starting now, to pick up any trash we see daring to peep out from the brown banks, then just maybe we can keep Zurich looking the way we would• all like to see it. No one would have to do a lot of cleaning up if everyone would just do a little. Of course, it would certainly help if some public minded group in the village would only see fit to install some gar- bage containers along the main streets... If you are complaining about the food prices here at home, it might be wise to stop. You likely don't know just how lucky you are. The food prices in Florida would astound you. Meat es- pecially is a terrible price. In fact, it is just as cheap if not cheaper to eat out than to buy the food and prepare it at home. No sir, when it comes to food we are the lucky ones. However, gasoline is another story. Gas prices in the Pompano Beach area vary from 50.9 cents per gallon to 58.9 cents per gallon depending on whether the station is self - serve or not and whether they take credit cards or not. Granted, the American gallon is smaller than ours, but it is not that much smaller. I find it hard to figure out why their gas is so much cheaper, it certainly sets a person wonder- ing. 0 FIRST WITH LOCAL NEWS Published Each Wednesday By J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. 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