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Township braces for Provincial budget cuts Scugog Township councillors are bracing themselves for huge spending cuts expected to be announced this week by the provincial government. | "I think it (the announcement) is going to be much worse than we ever thought it was going to be," said Township Mayor Howard Hall on Monday. Ontario finance minister Ernie Eves will unveil an economic statement on Wedne&day that will'include unprecedented cuts in transfer payments to municipalities, universities, schools and hospitals. One report published over the weekend in a Toronto newspaper quoting a cabinet document says the cuts will be in excess of $3.5 billion. Mayor Hall told the Citizen he expects the cuts in municipal transfer payments will be 20 per cent and could be as high as' 25 per cent. : And he said, this could be just the beginning of more cuts in the years to come. How will cuts such as this impact on Scugog Township? The municipality received nearly $900,000 in roads subsidies alone this year. A 20 per cent reduction translates into $180,000 that Scugog won't have to spend next year. "It's going to be very difficult to live with that," he stated. And, the Mayor said, there will be cuts in other municipal funding for such services as libraries and handi-transit. The full impact of the provincial cuts 'won't be known until later this week when municipal officials have an opportunity to 'crunch the numbers. Mayor Hall said Scugog residents.weould be facing . everything from increased user fees for récreation (arenas, ball diamonds) to hikes in property taxes. "I hope we are not forced to raise property taxes this year (1996) but we can't rule it out right now, he said. For the last couple of years Scugog has had a virtual zero increase in property takes as council did some slashing ofits own to trim local spending. _.« The cabinet document effed in {published repoptf over the weekend says Ontario will spend $9 billion on interest charges alone this year, will have an operating deficit of $8.6 billion this year and a total debt of nearly $100 billion. By the year 2000, it will take $20 billion annually to, service the provincial debt, more than Ontario now spends on health care. Mayor Hall said the provincial government has no choice but to drastically slash spending to get its deficit and intetest payments under control. But Sctigog and every other municipality will feel the jmpact. "We ane preparing for things to be really tough," he said. Your Voice in Scugog Vol. 5, No. 17 Tuesday, November 28, 1995 Call (905) 985-6397 CIRC. 13,500 187509 28 pages The magic of Santa's Parade Good weather brought out a large number of people to vbw the annual Santa Claus Parade that made its way through the streets of Port Perry Saturday afternoon. And it was a magical time for the young children who watched the parade or were part of It as you can see from the expressions on the faces of these two elves Helen and Dlilan on Santa's Workshop Float. The Parade was sponsored as always by the Scugog Chamber of Commerce. More parade photos In this Issue of the Citizen. -- " Cops collar two robbery suspects Durham Police officers from 26 Division put the collar on two robbery suspects after tracking them across snow covered fields last week.. A police spokesman said the incident begin about noon hour November 22 when a house was burglarized on Strattonville Road in the vicinity of Durham Roads 23 and 8. A short while later, a resident of Ward Road in the same area returned home to find two men getting into a car that was backed up to the front door of the house. The man attempted to block the driveway with his pick-up truck but the driver of the car hit the truck and made a getaway. The man then followed the car in his truck to a dead-end road and notified police. Officers found the car abandoned in a wooded area along with several household items including a large TV set. They tracked two suspects across the fields to Medd Road where the arrests were made about 2:00 PM. Charged with two counts of break and enter and possession stolen goods worth more than $5000 are Tyler Matskiw, 21 of Oshawa, and Kevin Strickland, 19 of Ajax. Matskiw faces an additional charge of dangerous driving. 'Give the gift of life With the Festive Season just about here, what better gift could you give thdn the gift of life? ' ¢ The Masonic Lodge in Port Perry will be holding' a Red Cross Blood Donor Clinic Wednesday, December 6 at the Lodge at 320 Queen Street. Doors open at 1:00 PM and will remain open until 8:00 PM as a ENTS = SEE CITIZEN CALENDAR PAGE TEN target of 175 units has been set for this clinic. Members of the Lodge are asking the community to give in two ways at this clinic on Detember 6 with a precious donation of blood and with a non-perishable food item that will be turned over to Operation Scugog Christmas Food Drive.