HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1975-12-10, Page 37The Provincial Treasurer,
Darcy McKeough in giving the
Legislature this week a glimpse
of next year's budget, announc-
ed that the Government will be
limiting overall expenditure
to 10% in 1976-77 without
compromising essential services.
He also announced that Mun-
icipal transfer grants will be
increased by 8% instead of rest-
ricting it to 5 and 6% as prev-
iously indicated. Mr. McKeough
presented tables of government
spending, which he will be giving
to a meeting of the Provincial -
Municipal Liaison Committee.
The tables indicate an increase
of 21.1% in interest payments
on the Provincial debt as compar-
ed to the increase of 2.2% for
housing. The interest payments
on the Provincial debt will total
$860 million while expenditure
on housing will total $475 million.
Mr. McKeough in his state-
ment said that excessive growth
in spending by governments at
all levels has contributed in large
measure to the inflation problem
in the economy at large. Acc-
ordingly, governments must now
provide an example of restraint
by ordering priorities and cutting
back on their demands upon the
taxpayer.
Attaining this total expend-
iture objective of approximately
$12.5 billion necessitates reduct-
ion in a number of low priority
programs so that the genuine
needs in higher priority areas
can be met. For example the level
of activity in Provincial road con-
struction will be reduced.
The level of investment in
housing will be maintained
but not increased. Welfare spend-
ing will be held to the rate of
inflation plus projected growth
in caseloads.
Payments towards post -secon-
dary education, will increase
significantly to accommodate
the rapid increase in enrolments.
Spending in the justice field
will increase in recognition of
the demands from Ontario's
residents for improved service
in the area of law and order.
Salary increases to civil serv-
ants will be held to a overall
average of 8% in conformity
with the recent federal guidelines
while compensation to senior
levels will be frozen through
1976 at the level they have been
since October 1974. Authorized
staffing levels of the civil service
will continue to be reduced.
The full co-operation of local
governments in this common
cause of spending restraint has
been asked.
Mr. McKeough listed govern-
ment support and performance
of the local government sector
over the past five years. In 1970-
1975, local government spending
in Ontario has increased 70%
from $3.6 billion to 6.1 billion.
A very large part of this increase
has been financed by enrichment
of provincial grants, Mr. Mc -
Keough said. This has allowed
a considerable expansion and up-
grading of local government
services with only moderate
increases averaged less than 1%
per annum.
There was a 12% increase in
mill rates in 1975 so that the
total increase for the five year
period 1970-1975 was about 17%
or an average of 3% per annum.
In view of the significance of
provincial assistance to local
sector financing, Mr. McKeough
said it is vital to municipalit-
ies, school boards and local
agencies to know the dimensions
of the government's financial
support in preparing their bud-
gets for 1976. He said that he will
be informing the Provincial -
Municipal Liaison Committee
that the province is prepared to r••
Jottings by Jack - from Queen's Park
Government limit 1976 bu
Citizens News, Dec. 17175 - Page 17
increase its support by 8%
which represents some $230
million in additional funds to
local governments.
Municipal councils and all
local agencies, Mr. McKeough
said must take tough decisions
to hold the line on 1976 spending,
to cut out new programs, to
freeze civil service hiring and to
postpone capital projects, if
mill rate increases are to be kept
to a minimum next year.
The province has accommodat-
ed local spending to the limit
of its own budget capacity.
It is now up to the local sector
itself to exercise rigid budget-
ary constraint to ensure that
ratepayers get full value for their
tax dollars. Mr. McKeough said
the principle of an affordable
society requires implementation
and commitment by all levels of
government.
The Minister of Agriculture
and Food, William Newman in
a statement to the Legislature,
said that final payment will be
made to those producers who
voluntarily enrolled in the Ontario
Beef Calf Income Stabilization
program.
Mr. Newman said that in the
first year over 12,100 producers
joined the five-year program
enrolling some 312,850 beef
cows. The guarantee price in
1975 was established at 504
per pound. This meant that when
the weighted average market
price of beef stocker calves fell
below the 50(P guarantee price a
payment from the program would
be made to absorb the differ-
ence. The weighted average
market price of Ontario stocker
calves during the monitoring
period of September, October and
November in key sales areas
throughout the Province was
29.82 cents per pound.
Under the Beef Calf program
the gross payment per cow to the
farmer amounts to $77.19 this
year. Since the premium for the
program this year was $5 per
cow, this amount must be deduct-
ed from the gross payment to
' give a net payment per cow
of $72.19. Mr. Newman said the
average net payment per produc-
er with this, size herd will amount
to $1,877.
For the cow -calf industry it
total this will mean a net trans-
fer of about $22.5 million in 1975.
The Minister indicated that the
cow -calf producers who enrolled
in the Ontario Beef Calf Income
Stabilization program can antic-
ipate receipt of their cheques
from the program in December
of this year.
The Minister also said that a
10% random sample of program
applicants was visited during
November and early December
by Ministry of Agriculture and
Food staff to ensare that the
correct number of eligible cows
were enrolled. The Ministry
staff received excellent co-oper-
ation from producers and that
only minor errors in reporting
cow numbers occurred. These,
Mr. Newman said, were due to.
the fact that this was the first
year of a new program.
The Minister pointed out that
any farmer who produced high
quality calves would have rec-
eived more from the marketplace
than this year's provincial aver-
age, and that in continuing
efforts to improve the quality of
Ontario Beef herds the program
gives the producers who do an
excellent job of producing calves
a double benefit both from the
market place and the Beef Calf
Program.
The Minister said that the Ont-
ario Beef Calf Income Stabiliz-
ation program's original concept
and purpose, to help producers
during bottoms in the market,
have been achieved.
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