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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-03-16, Page 51 Pear,E,4tto4 Recently, at the r'eqUeat 04 Ontario ,FederatiOn of Apiculture (aF.A..), the %tar* CrOYeroment again offered a DOW farm property tax PrOP0401,;$40.leally,, the new. proposal Is this. far= land and buildings will "be assessed and ',taxed as they are now,. farm homes wain assessed ancl taxed equitably with other homes in the community, the lot on which the farm house sits will be assessed and taxed at 50 percent of the value the lot would have if it could be severed.The program win' be legislated, therefore more penhanent and secure than the present rebate program which must be approved each year by Order in Conneil. Farmers will continue to pay their entire property taxes as they do now. Those farmers who wish to, will receive a grant equal to the sum of the taxes on their land and (farm buljdings. There will be no grant �n the farm house and lot. a :g • • „ „ choice L.. as. sewed for #01)ortt tax, • try 'borrowing one Without, the, OWner's Conon* ManY senior ,citizens 'receive property tas • Vans, but uninvited Public use of their home is not perinitted.' The O.F.A. continues to believe that an equitable taX systepi. sh6tlid be based on four points: L People taxed 'for ser- vices to people; 2. Property taxed for services to property; 3. Land assessed ac- cording to productivjty; • 4. Taxes based onability to pay. The Ontario Government and their staff in the Property Assessment Branch have sincerely tried for many years to find such a system for taxing farm property. They have been unsuccessful. Government decided three years ago not to continue the search because, probably, the funds generated would not justify the hassle. Farmers now have „ a choice. They can oppose the new proposal and Govern- ment will retain the present insecure system. Or they can accept the new proposal with its legislated security and the additional twenty million dollars it would annually provide the farm com- munity. • Yours very truly, Gordon Hill. The farm property tax grants will be in the same category as many other government payments. For example, grants for farm ponds and water systems, milk houses. stables. barns, implement sheds, drains, manure storage, fruit and vegetable' storage, grain storage, deficiency payments on farm products, improvinghomes on and off farms, building and rebuilding factories, pain- ting and sprucing up farm buildings, modernizing machinery and equipment, assisting Massey Ferguson, Chrysler and other cor- porations to remain solvent as well as many other purposes. Some farmers oppose the new plan. They mistakenly equate payment of taxes with maintenance , of property rights. The right to own, hold and enjoy property are ensured by a document called a "Deed", registereT through the legal system and enforced by law, not by payment of taxes. Farm property rights were strengthened recently by the Government passing new laws to reduce and control trespassing. Of course, farmers will continue to pay property taxes too and receive a receipt from the municipal tax collector. However, many people securely own property without the property being taxed. Expensive paintings held as: an investment, bonds,,, travel trailers, sail and motor boats are among the items of property not Commends Joe Ducharme Dear Editor, In response to the group home letters in last week's Signal Star, I would like to set the "embarrassed and ashamed" citizens of Goderich straight. 'the petition circulated in the area of Elgin Avenue did not indicate that we are against group homes or against having the mentally handicapped as our neigh- bours. It indeed did suggest that more planning should take place, in order to provide a "safe" home as well as . a normal en- .vironment for these people who will reqture a certain amount of supervision. I commend people like Mr. Ducharme and neighbours who had enough intelligence to look beyond the political shuffle, and showed a lot of concern for the safety and the future welfare of the Mentally Retarded. It was obvious at the general in- formation meeting held at town hall March 8, that the people involvedk with plan- ning the future of the mentally retarded, are overwhelmed with the dream of the mentally - retarded living in the community setting just as you and I. They too deserve this opportunity..I agree, but also we must be realistic and recognize that the retarded to have special needs, and in fact their safety and future welfare should be our priority. When we are told "don't worry about a resident falling from a ladder on your property, this has never happened before," or "the mildly retarded residents at a Group Home on Rideout Street in London cross a busy intersection everyday, and no one has been hit by a car yet," possibly it's just as well that we "normal people" can't predict the- future, and the mentally retarded don't know what their future will bring. Louise Graham Minaker says science biased Dear Editor, There is evidence in the 'scientific school of thought that their previous theories in regards to the creation of man, and the world, has brought them to a dead end. They say now that a scientist can have a personal belief in God, but they are not permit - td to recognize Him in their Work. This theory, in my opi- nion, is the same as hanging a masterpiece of art on the wall, and refusing to "recognize the artist. • A number of, years7-agO, before the automobilej was invented, it was thought by the scientific community, that if one was to exceed 40 or 50 miles an hour, one. would not be able to breathe. The. discovery of electrici- ty was achieved by Ben- jamin Franklin by playing with a kite during a storm, with a key on the end of a str- ing, entirely outside the cir- cle of science. It achieved progress by -Edison, who was considered mentally defi- cient by his leachers, and received the basic rudiments of his education from his mother. He was responsible for the inventions of moving pic- tures and the phonograph. Alexander Graham Bell also received his basic education at, home until he wasten. More than likely, if he had gone to school before this age, the teachers would have said he was also men- tally lacking because of his inability to hear properly. The Wright brothers were bicycle enthusiasts, who suc- ceeded in overcoming the laws of gravity by flaunting all of the then -known theories of aerodynamics. Einstein was a high school dropout who obtained a job in a copyright office, but eventually gave the scien- tific world the formula for 'splittingthe atomA.