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WIUTBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY APRIL 2, 1986 PAGE 3 Sehool board considersl10 % budget hike Durham Board of Education chairman Ruth Lafarga predicts that the, board's 1986 budget wlll probably corne in on April 14 with a 10 percent increase over lait year's figures. Mlthough that ini- crease is down con- slderably from the 15 percent Increase called for In the board's prellmlnary budget, Mns. Lafarga feit that the trustees had pared the document down as much as was possible without interrupting programs. She added that there is a strong committment on the part of the trustees this year to limit spending, wherever possible, to those programs that willl most directly benefit the FROM PG. 1 children in the classroom. To-- that end, Mrs. Lafarga said this year's budget addresses a number of important improvements in Durham's ichools in- cludlng reduced class sizes and a number of capital projecta such as new gyms and science labs whle it also in- creases the board's pur- chasing power for new text books. Since estabiishlng the preliminary budget, the board has learned that provincial funding this year wll be better than anticipated. When the preliminary budget was set, Mns. Lafarga said it was drawn up on the assumption that the provincial grants would be up and about four percent over lait year but they have received assurances that this year's grants will reflect a five percent in- crease. It was this in- cmease, and an over-levy from lait year, accor- ding to Mns. Lafarga, that have helped the board brlng the'budget down to an increase of 10 percent. However, she said any further cuti would begin to in- trude on classroom programs. 'We're the second lowest spending board in the province and most of the other large school boards are coming in with budget increases this year of nine or ten percent. When you have costly, provinciaily mandated programs such as special education, you just can't expect to corne ln at In- flation. And when you add your capital requirements it's even more difficuit," said Mrs. Lafarga. The board is requesting the province for fundlng to build three new schools this year - one of them in Whltby. If approval cornes through for al three ichools, said Mns. Lafarga, the board may even have to consider debenturing, something the board bas not had to do for a number of years. "There's a feeling these days in gover- Increase unvoidable m Edwards region's surplus. "If you look at these two factors alone, and elese are uncon- trollable, you're already down to close to a six percent increase. And then there's the police budget. With ail the con- strainti we neyer hined a constable ln the lait three years and with the growth in the negion the time, had core to do some catching up. People in the region want more police protection," said Mayor Attersley. -The Durham Regional JPolice budget of $24.8 *mlonconstitutes 47.5 ,:.percent of this year's budget and includes 7provisions for the hiring ,0f 17 new constables, three civilians and three cadets. The police budget in it's final form rings in 'With an increase of 9.2 percent but Mayor At- teriley, who headi up the police commission, said that $40,000 was cut to get the increase down to 9.2. "lWe looked. for every way to take money out of the (police) budget except for the man- power," said the Mayor. Regional counilor and works chairaman Genry Emm feit the budget accomplished some considerable im- provementi on trie region's roads, im- provements could no longer by ignored. ,lit allows for roads to be brought up to a btter level than pnevious budgets have allowed. We're starting to turn the tide. If we didn't do it now we'd have to piay double and triple that in just a few years," said Mr. Emm. Apart from the widening of Thickson Rd. which the region will ha undertaking this summer to the tune of more than $1 million dollars, the budget also provides for in excess of $200,000 to ha spent on roads in Whitby this year. Nor have social ser- vices been ignored, said regional councillor Tom Edwards, pointing out that the region has ap- proved an expenditure of $2k million for long needed improvementi to Fairview Lodge la Whitby. "O0bviously I would have preferred a lower budget. I don't like being party to a 9.5 per- cent increase but I see no way of avoiding it without abandoning essential serývices to the community," said Mr. Edwards. Although the average increase in taxes around the region will ha 9.5 percent, Whitby ratepayens will ha ex- pected to, dig a bit deeper. Because the town enjoyecl the third greatest assessment growth in the region this year, the average in- crease in Whtby's regional taxes wilha in the neighbourhood of il percent or $4.93 for every $1,000 of local assessment. While the growth in assessment has meant an increase in ratepayers' regionai taxes, however, Mayor Attersiey said it bas helped to keep down this year's Whitby tax bill which will increase by less than 3 percent in 1986. The final gnous operating budget ap- proved for the region in 1986 was $159.4 million. rment mrat you pay as you go. You have to pay twice the price for debentunlng and if we can hold off. until 1992 we'll be dlean of all our debentures. But even wlth these three new schools wel be faliing behind. If we do get the approval I think we'Il have to review our debenturing policy,"l said the chairinan. SStili included in this year's budget hs the costly Core French program which extends the number of houri of French Instruction given to students. Without the program, Mns. Lafarga said studenti will not ha ailowed to study French when they go on to university. The board has made some- cuti in speciai education spending this year but Mns. Lafarga said the- Durhani board's program hs at least comparable with those in other boards and she was not concer- ned that they wene falling behind the province's special education requiremen- ti. The budget will go through one more round of staff -and committee sessions .this 'week before it goes to the board April 14 for final approval. IfERITAGE FLOOR FASHIONS RETURNS'WITII TUE ORIGINAL I'IIII F U A LMAJtNL ROI OR STURS. Addlllonal requlrmenla '1.11 sq. fI. ..SH OPAT HOME SERVICE ~ INTEREST FOR 12 MOS. TO OUALIFIED BUVERS '-- INSTALLATION WITH LIFETIME GUARANTEE Ij~ AM/FM PORTABLE RADIO WITH EVERY PURCHASE AIea avallable Antron Nylon, Woola, Bhrtlmore,__ Coronhl, Commercial Division 636.7226- SEE SAMPLES IN VOUR HOME OR OFFICE THIS OFFER'LIMITEDTO SHOP AT HOME BUVERSI SATISFACTION GUARANTEED OR MONET REFUNDED ,CLOCA cornes up short By MIKE JOHNSTON Free Press Staff The Central Lake On- tanlo Conservation ýAuthority has received a 17.7 percent budget in- crease for this year from the Region of Durham, an allocation far short of what ,CLOCA wasnrequesting. CLOCA had requested a 50 percent increase in their budget for 1986. "The region gave'us more money than nor- mal but I'm devastated we won't be able to hire ýfuil-time labourers," said CLOCA chairman and Whitby councillor, Joe Drumm. Mr. Drumm was neferring to the budget initîally proposed by CLOCA which would have enabled them to hire five fuli-time main- tenance staff. "We will just have to cut back on the level of service," said CLOCA chief administrative of- ficer, Bil Campbell. "Buildings just won't ha painted and grass won't ha cut," he added. Mr. Campbell said CLOCA's wonkforce has been ..dspeiaLtly . . inadequate for many years and this year CLOCA wil again have to rely on the Labour In- centive Program. The program run by the Federal Goverument SEE PG. 18 I SOLID VINYLS REGULAR TO $34.90 $g$995 GET O A ADOUBLE BOLT FREE NEW TILE LOOK REGULAR TO $34.90 "'HERITAGE" A TRUSTED NAME IN CARPET g a le FOR 10 DAYS ONLY APRIL 3-12186 20%OFF ALL SPRING CLOTHING PLUS FINAL MARKDOWN ON WINTER CLOTHING New instock size 20 Ladies Fashions HOURS: MON.-FRI. 9:30-6:00 SATU RDAY 9:30-5:00 BETTY'S FASH IONS 112 Brock St. N., Whltby ~~668141