Vol. 132 Number 33 PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - TUESDAY, JULY 7, 1998 COPY 65¢ (s1e+ 40 GT) 28 Pages 3 : LT eed © mw eraia ae ob re i Lait PL di EN "0 Fhe athe Habibi Seipet hs 2Cugog's 1998 Citizen of the Year r gag sy EE DE ER i sade ae "RIK DAVIE '/ PORT PERRY STAR HEATHER"S TEAM CANADA: The Port Perry Star Citizen of the Year, Heather Haliburton- Smith, brought her support team to the Canada Day celebration's last Wednesday where she was recognized for her work for the disabled and those in need of community support. Heather 'smiles as her son Devon and her husband Bob help her display the award she so richly deserved. The whole family was also celebrating Canada's 'birthday by showing the flag. Thanks Heather, Devon 'and Bob, it's folks like you that make Scugog a great place to live. pr Region's budget adds $140 tax to average home By John B. McClelland Port Perry Star Durham Region council approved a 1998 budget last week that will have a significant impact on property taxes. The budget contains an overall 15 per cent increase which will add about $124 to the tax bill this year for the average residential property across the region. CC Here in Scugog the hike for the average homeowner will be in the $140 range because of historical differences in the way Scugog's share of the regional budget is apportioned. Both Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt and Regional rep Ken Gadsden voted in favor of the budget last week, stating it was neces- [i sary to get it approved now so Durham can proceed with needed capital works projects Boug Weitat this summer, and so that the region will have funds to carry on the day-to-day operations of government. The total budget approved last week is about $200 mil- lion. Slightly over half that amount is the result of new downloading charges that the provincial government said would be "revenue neutral." Downloading is the term used to describe services that were previously paid for by the pro- Please turn to page 12 Durham Council vote for pay hike By John B. McClelland Port Perry Star £ With Durham Region and Queen's Park embroiled in multi-million dollar discussions on the impact of provincial downloading, Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt says it's "bad opt- ics" for regional councillors to be giving themselves a raise, no matter how modest it may be. The mayor voted against the pay increase at a regional council meeting last week. The pay hike will add about $40,000 to the $200 million regional budget this year. But the vote to increase council salaries carried by a wide margin, and Mayor Moffatt told The Star he will donate his raise to Scugog Township. The increase amounts to 8.7 per cent over three years, or 3.5 per cent this year and next, and 2.5 per cent in the final year. Regional councillors who were earning $21,000 before the increase will see another $800 this year. The mayor said he would have much preferred that coun- cil defer any decision on the pay increase until after Durham Please turn to page 8 All Napoleon gas grills are HOV S(SV(€]S availabie in natural aas or \\® Agek npr bien biy (53 0 160 Ceelmir &t, aN (Bo Ber " yg] | i ERY NA Jul (36) + 985-071 Ther BIN < Hoats 2,000 sq. ft. High Efffclenicy' - J. GDS80 Natural Gas or Propane tter Time To: SO0-8