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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-09-30, Page 22, REAL FAMILY AFFAIR - What has obviously been some keen competition on two local farms culminated at the Exeter fair, Saturday, with the naming of the feeder calf club winners. From the left are: Margaret Pym, junior showman; Brian Pym, senior showman; Bevan Shapton, top gain calf; Wayne Shapton, cham- pion calf; Janet Shapton, reserve champion calf. Staff photo TENDER The Ministry of Natural Pesources, Wingham District, has the following parcels of land available for lease by tender for the 1977 season. STANLEY TOWNSHIP Lot Concession Area and Designated Use 4 Lake Road West 40 acres cropland HULLETT TOWNSHIP Lot Concession 8 3 W 1/2 17 3 18 3 6 & 7 4 10 4 7 5 8 5 •12 6 14 6 15 6 19 & 20 6 Area and Designated Use 80 acres cropland 35 acres cropland 75 acres cropland 90 acres cropland (must seed down) 20 acres cropland 47 acres cropland 50 acres cropland 35 acres cropland 80 acres cropland (must seed down) 75 acres cropland (must seed down) 45 acres cropland The terms and conditions of tender will be as follows: 1. Successful tenderers will pay the municipal taxes on the land and the balance of their tender to the Ministry. Pay- ment to the Ministry will be in the form of a cheque made payable to THE TREASURER OF ONTARIO. Payment must be received by October 31, 1977. 2. No herbicides with the exception of 2-4-D-B can be applied to any of the properties. 3. The pasture seed mixture to seed down lots 6 and 7, Concession 4, and lots 14 & 15, concession 6, will be supplied by the Ministry of Natural Resources. 4. Subleasing is not permissible. 5. There will be no compensation or adjustment for damage to crops as a result of use by wildlife and/or hunters. 6. The Ministry of Natural Resources reserves the right to enter upon the properties and carry out any necessary management activities. 7. Persons using property of the Ministry under a Land Use Permit will do so at their own risk. Persons having any questions or interested in further details regarding the properties for lease should call the Wingham Office (357.3131). Tenders for these properties will be received at the: Ministry of Natural Resources Box 490 Wingham, Ontario NOG 2W0 until 12:00 noon, October 8, 1976. Highest or any may not be accepted. tender The Zurich Community Centre NEEDS YOUR HELP!!! In order to meet Building Code Standards, Fire and Health regulations, and other minor renovations to the Community Centre, $35,060 in donations must be raised, Additional funds will come from LIP, Community Centre and Wintario grants. Rural and local canvasses, including Businesses, Organizations, and Residents, are now being planned - Specific dates will be published. Official receipts will be given for tax purposes. Please support YOUR Community Centre Write for further information: Zurich Community Centre Fund Raising Committee Box 304, Zurich, Ontario, NEW OWNERS AT CREDITON COUNTRY GROCERY Lyn and Dunc McAdam are pleased to announce the sale of their business to Teresa and Murray Najjar. We have enjoyed serving our friends over the past number of years and would like to thank them all for giving us the opportunity to serve them. We ask that you extend the same co-operation to Teresa and Murray. urifito Loin Chops lb '1.29 Butt Chops lb 85' Crediton Sausage lb 95' Ground Beef 63' GRADE A-1 BEEF Sides of Beef Fronts 65' Hinds 1 .03 SHOP AND SAVE NOW AT: CREDITON COUNTRY GROCERY SOFT DRINKS 5 LARGE BOTTLES Plus Deposit 99' CITY SERVICE WITH COUNTRY COURTESY MAIN ST., CREDITON 234-6213 No. 1, Ont. Grown POTATOES 10 Clover Leaf Chunk LIGHT TUNA 6 1/2 oz 59' Sylvania, 100 W-60W-40W-25W LIGHT BULBS 2/45' IIMMIIIIIMINIMENNOMMIIIMinen011101•101•••=1.10111.111•111b. Ivory *LIQUID DETERGENT 32 oz. '1.05 MIN Meg IMP All flavors CHOCOLATE BARS • 15' Kleenex, 2 ply TOWELS Pkg. of 2 85' V 1,4 I No•O MACARONI DINNER 7 1 /2 oz 2/5 1' Kraft Page 22 Times-Advocate, Septornber.30, 1970 . ................ 4,,..X2=ZIME.3723 More funds for municipalities By JACK RIDDELL 1V1 PP Huron-Middlesex Treasurer Darcy McKeough, at a Special meeting of the Provincial Municipal Liaison's Committee outlined the total financial transfers that would be available to local Governments from the Province in 1977. In 1976 Provincial revenue are expected to grow by 19.9 percent. This is an unusually high growth rate that results from tax cuts to stimulate the economy in 1975 followed by tax increases in the 1976 budgets. These tax increases were required to reduce the cash requirements and to maintain the Province's credit rating and financial integrity. It is anticipated that budgetary revenues will grow by 8 percent in 1977 while receipts will remain static to produce an overall growth rate in Provincial revenues of 7.7 percent for next year. The best estimate at, this date for the Province's 1977/1978 revenue growth which is shared with local governments under the Edmonton Commitment is only 8 percent. The 8 percent forecast incorporates $120 million in additional sales tax revenue reflecting the termination of the exemption for production. Machinery. This exemption is scheduled to expire as of December 31, 1976. Applying the 8 percent growth rate to the 1976/1977 commitment level, provides an amount for total Provincial transfers of $3,426 million in 1977 78. Relating this to the $3,096 million which the Government expects to transfer during the current year. This compares with an increase of $221 million or 7.7 percent for the current year, Should the Province's revenue outlook further deteriorate between now and the 1977 budget, the transfers for the next year will be held at the $3,426 million. By the same token should revenue move the other way, the same holds true. In either case adjustments will be made in the following year. The following are some of the highlights of the distribution of transfers for 1977;78, The Province decided to allocate 50 percent of the new funds to school boards. Such an increase was critical on account of the continuing cost pressures in the educational system. While local government is pleased to receive 50 percent of the' in- crease, there was still concern about education receiving 50 percent with less children at- tending school, Grants from the Ministry of Transportation and Com- munications will be increased by $49 million or 10.7 percent. Because of lower requirements for the Toronto subway in the current year, this increase will permit the Minister of Tran- sportation and Communications to emphasize the high priority he sees for greater assistance towards local roads. The latter will be increased by 13 percent. Provision for transfers from the Ministry of Community and Social Services will be increased by more than 11 percent to $364 million. Ad additional $10 million is allocated to Homes for the Aged while the allocation for Children's Aid Societies was raised by $6 million. The Government decided to greatly increase its allocation for the regional priorities program. Funds for this transfer program were increased from $27 million to $43 million next year. It is a program to shore up the economic potential of developing communities and to build the infra structure to draw industrial development. Grants from the Ministry of Culture and Recreation have been enriched significantly. The Minister of Culture and Recreation requested and received approval for $8 million in extra funds in 1976/77 for his Community Recreation Centres program. This became necessary to assist the many communities with unsafe arenas to undertake the required repairs or to build new arenas. For next year this program was further enriched as not nearly all these problems will be solved this year. All the other changes are fairly straightforward. The only ex- ception to this is the un- conditional grants program. The Province over the past few years has increased the emphasis on unconditional grants in its assistance to municipalities. In this way Municipalities will gradually gain greater freedom to make their own choices and set their own priorities. They can use these funds to increase activities already otherwise supported with conditional grants or for com- pletely different functions, They can be used to reduce mill rates. For next year the Ontario Government has decided to boost unconditional grants significantly. They will be in- creased by $65 million or 17.5 percent. This enrichment will raise the proportion of un- conditional grants to total municipal grants from 26.9 percent this year to 28.2 percent in 197778. The last time the Government increased the per capita grant towards policing costs was in the 1975 budget. Recognizing the differential cost pressures in communities that incur policing expenditures the Ontario Government decided to increase this special per capita grant by 25 percent. This will raise the $8 rate to $10 per capita and the $12 rate to $15.00 per capita. A total cost of this enrichment will be $19 million next year. Unconditional grants for regional policing are paid in nine areas. There is a differential in rates of this grant for 1977 of $5.00 per capita in favour of- regional governments with a regional force. It is incumbent upon the regional governments to ensure that they do adopt region wide policing of their own. The Solicitor General expects to cease providing regional policing by the Ontario Provincial Police after March 31, 1977. Finally the Province will in- crease all general per capita grants by $1.00 per capita at a cost of about' $8.5 million. This will raise the, grants from $9 to $10 in regional government areas. For non regionalize municipalities the per capita grants schedule will start at $7. instead of $6.00 with the top marginal rate going from $8 to $9. There will be no change in the general support grant which remains at a flat 6 percent of prior year local levies. Similarly the resource equalization grant will remain unchanged, except that the standard for this grant will be increased from $10,400 to $10,500 in equalized assessment per capita, with a maximum grant rate of 25 percent for any municipality. From a recent survey done by the Province, it would appear that on average municipal millrates during 1976 will have risen by approximately 8,5 percent. It is encouraging to note that the municipal sector ob- viously moderated its mill rate increases ,by a combination of tight budgeting, elimination of waste and the use of liquid reserves. All governments will need to stay on this type of course if the public sector is to reduce or eliminate its inflationary impact on the economy and if we are serious about our attempt to enhance the productivity of the economy in a competitive, in- ternational environment. The advance notice of 1977 Provincial transfers to local governments sparked some criticism amongst local govern- ment officials, and opposition members at the Provincial level. There was some criticism of the Treasurer for his ad hoc ap- proach to the needs of the municipalities for funds whereby the Treasurer provides them with more money in good times and encourages them to spend more and then forces them to cut back on their program in times of restraint. This approach to municipal financing makes it impossible for municipalities to plan their financial programs on a long range basis and barely permits them to know where they are going from year to year, The Treasurer has told the Municipalities what they can expect one year but they have no idea what they can get from him the following year. The reference in his statement to "willingness to tax" is in reality based on the ability of municipalities to tax. The result of this will be that those municipalities which are wealthier and have greater tax capacity will receive more. Some critics expressed the view that the Treasurer wants us to believe that the Edmonton Commitment is honoured regardless of the year to year vagaries in the funding of the municipalities. When the Province shows, largess in any year the Treasurer says the Commitment is being honoured. When the Province fails to show largess, he argues that the Commitment is defined as an average over an indeterminate number -of years, Critics seem to think that it is time to take the responsibility for municipal affairs out of the hands of thd Treasurer who allegedly has demonstrated that he is more interested in using municipal financing as a political football instead of as a means of insuring an efficient and equitable distribution of local services and revenue sources throughout the Province. The Treasurer said that half of the additional $330 million will not go to municipalities but to local school boards despite the fact that they are experiencing declining enrolments. We might ask whether we can expect this to pay for ever increasing school administrative costs and whether we will ever see this money reflected in increase quality in the classrooms. Obviously Housing are going to continue to be very expensive in Ontario as there is a reduced' commitment on the part of the Government to increase funds for this purpose. According to some municipal officials and op-! position critics, the $5 million reduction in the amount of money available for housing grants indicates the Treasurer's questionable priorities "in this area.