The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

6 -Orno eeMyTirns.Wenesday. Febru-aiy 25, 1998 Bowl for Millions Complètes another success fui campaign The 1998 Big Brothers Bowl for Millions campaign ended on Sunday. Pictured is a mixed team, made up of some town council- lors. Front row is Little Staying In LLTouch John O'Toole Durham East MPP You have each received your new property assess- ment notice. I have had a number of cals on the new assessment system. It is important to explain why this change was necessary. For many years, municipalities and provincial organizations like (AMO), the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, (ROMA) the Rural Ontario Municipal Association and others have demanded that the Ontario govemnment fix our outdated assessment sys- tem. in short, with over 800 municipalities niany with dif- ferent assessment base years, many property owners were not paying their fair share. In Durham, we have some municipalities that have not been reassessed since the 1940's with other municipal- ities having gone through reassessment in -the 1990's. The reason some municipali- ties have avoided reassess- ment is because it Is contro- versiai. Our government passed three pieces of legisla- tion to make this happen, Bill 106 & Bill 149, the Fair Municipal Finance Acts, as well as Bill 160, the Education Quaiity lm provement Act. The amendments to the Education Act aliowed these changes to take place. Keepin mind that reassessment alone should not result in increased revenue for a municipaiity. If notbing changed in a munic- ipality, (no new buildings or demoished property) the reassessment wouid simpiy shift the apportionment. In the same municipality, two identicai residential proper- Brother Chris Broome. Second getting a municipal team row: Steve Nikifork, Jane together, Troy Young, anid Big Rowe, Mary Novak, Jim Brother Wayne Aasen. This Seieli. Back row: Linda ye'ar 288 bowlers participated Tayor who was responsible for -and raised to date, $12,65 9.7 7. ties should pay the same taxes. The new Ontario Fair, Assessment svtem xii: > reassess ail properties in Ontario (based on value June 30, 1996) > ensure ail property val- ues remain current and updated > allow an (8 year) phase-in period of tax change > guarantee tax relief for low-income seniors and dis- abled homeowners > simplifr the assessment appeai process > give municipalties important nexv powers to address their revenue needs in a way that best fits local budget priorities if you believe that your assessment notice is too hiigh, (you think your property is worth less), you must cail the assessment office (905) 432- 8444 or 1-800-268-2224 any appeai must be registered by June 1998. Naturaily, if you think your property assess- ment is too iow, you xiii prob- abiy caîl and have it re- assessed. In your new assessment notice, there is information on public meetings to be held throughout Durham. - Ciarington on March 23 to 25th at G.B. Rickard Compiex a Scugog on March 12 to 13th at Scugog Municipal Building e Oshawa orn March 17 to 2lst at Oshawa Public Library .Whitby on March 10 to l3th at Heydenshore Pavilion The most commoniy asked question is "does reassess- ment mean that my taxes will go up?" The short answer is, not necessanily. If a municipal tax base expands due to growth of industriai, com- mercial or residential build- ing, they xiii generate more revenue and could conceiv- ably loxver taxes. If a munici- pality increases their budget, due to nexv services like a library or senior centre, their budget expenditures xiii increase and your contribu- tions xiii increase. The second most common- iy asked question is "hoxv do I caiculate my total tax bill?" for a residential property, there are three main compo- nents that determine your total taxes - education, local & regional taxes: A) Education: the province has set the educationai tax rate at .46%. B) Local municipal tax rates will be set by the munic- ipality xvhen they have set their budget. C) Regional tax rates xiii also be set xvhen they set their budget. It is important to note that xve have simpiifled the tax process by repiacing the old Milii Rate-with a Tax Rate. Furthermore, the province wull now set the education tax rate xvhiie municipalities xiii have the flexibility to set the tax rates on the seven prop- erty classes: residentiai, muiti-residential (apart- ments), commercial, industri- ai, farmiands, managed for- est, and pipelines. There are other changes to Business Occupancy Tax (BOT) and Business Improvement Areas (BIA's). Gross lease landiords shouid cali my office for details. in the future, assessment xiii be updated using a three year rolling average. K-eep'm' mind that this change was necessary to ensure faimness across municipaities and indeed across the province. Hoxv do you caiculate your taxes? (a typical example): On a residential property vaiued at $125,000.00 In the old system, your tax bill was roughify 6 1% for edu- cation, 20% municipal & 19%/ regional taxes. If your total taxes.were $2,400.00 under the old system, you paid: 61% education or ($1,464.00),' 20% municipal or ($480-0) plus regional 19% or ($456.00) Under the new system, your taxes will be calcuiated as foliows: A) education .46 X $ 125,000.00 = $575.00 B) municipal (? tax rate) X $ 125,000.00)=$? C) regional (? tax rate) X $125,000.00 =$? The municipal and region- ai tax rates xiii be set once they determine their budget. I fuily expect the educational portion of your tax bill to go down and this is a resuit of Bill 160, where the province will now set the tax rate and fund education equitabiy across the province. To be fair, there are many changés in responsibility between the province and the municipall- ties. As I have explained in previous articles, with the "Who Does What" activity and the swap in responsibilîties betxveen the province fiinding more of education and municipalities paylng a greater share of municipal services (less grants), these shifts will make the entire system more accountable and are long over due. The oniy certainties in life are death and taxes. I hope municipalities xiIl continue to control their spending. If you have any questions, please cail the assessment office at the numbers above or our constltuency office at: (905) 697-1501 or 1-800- 661-2433. C1 a ri ng t on10 Fre Cails The' Ciarlngton Fire Departmnent responded to the following fire calls during the period of February 16 to February 23, 1998: 1 vehicie fire: 2 chiney fires; 5 motor vehicie accidents; 19 medicai assistance calls; 4 alarm acti- vation cals and 3 check-out calls. ~2) Durham Region L Community Care Association invites you to attend the r Officiai Opening of the Community Care Aduit Day Program - Newcastle Wednesday, March 4, 1998 1 to 5 p.m. Ribbon Cutting 2 p.m. 20 Robert Street West Main Level R.S.VRP (\Newcastle LI1B 1 Cô (905) 987-3000 I WEIGHT RESTRICTION -REGULATIONS wiIl be in force on roads under the jurisdiction of the Regional Municipality of Durham, effective March 2, 1998 to approximately May 1, 1998. Vehicle Ioads are restricted to FIVE TONNES per axie in accordance with Durham Region By-Iaw Number 251-89 (as revised) Signs wilI be erected on ail Regional Roads where these weight restrictions apply. VA. SIMGILIS, P.Eng. Commissioner of Works Regional Municipality of Durham