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

In Business For Business GSS OFFICE SUPPLIES Gaoreetown Secretarial Service ST GEORGETOWN 872Z82 Main St 1 acton Ontario 1W3 TltMtg HERALD FREE DISTRIBUTION WEDNESDAY MAY 32 PAGES Work That Body fitness instructor Laurie Boms left Mayor Miller and rec department special events sopervisor Joanne Wilson are hoping the Haltoo Hills town flag will be flying over the city of Guelph next week and theyre doing their bit today to make sore that happens Halton Hills has challenged Goelph in the Great Canadian Challenge and the winning communitys flag will grace its opponents sky for a week Halton Hills residents are encouraged to exercise for at least today before phoning the rec department hotline at 8732600 before 11 pm to register Herald photo by Paul Svoboda Help us win in just 15 minutes Hey Hills Todays the day Citizens of Halton Hills have a chance to defend the honor of their community as the annual Great ParUdnftcttoo Challenge pits our town against the City of Gudpta But if exercising alone isnt your thing if you need some h cflurogement to- get Uh day just grab your sweats and come on down to the Georgetown Market Place for an outdoor fitness break Work That Body fitness instruc tors will be conducting outdoor fitness classes open to the public beginning at and turning again at pm and Elsewhere Georgetown schools are also getting involved So join in or strike out on your own Run jog walk pedal or swim Just do it And dont forget to phone the departments Par ticipation Hotline at 8732600 before pm tonight to register Come on Halton Hills Long wait for seniors homes By DONNA KELL Herald Staff Seniors in Halton Hills can wait anywhere from six months to two years to get into a retirement home as the seniors population in Halton Region soars This information comes from the Halton Housing Authority which runs five residences in Acton and Georgetown just after the release of a Halton Region report entitled Accommodation Needs of the Elderly in Halton to the Year While Haltons population bet ween 1976 and 1986 increased by only per cent the seniors population increased by almost percent The Region published the report this month to survey the needs of the elderly and to project seniors population figures to the year 2001 In Halton Hills where the popula tion is an estimated 38000 there are 2800 seniors those aged 65 or older This figure will almost dou ble if Region predictions for 2001 are correct at a figure of 5500 Eleven per cent of the Regions seniors live in Halton Hills Trends indicate that the Regional seniors population which is just over nine per cent of 280000 people will increase to almost 13 per cent of the population by 2001 The bulk of the seniors popula tion in Halton Hills and in the rest of the Region is made of the age to 74 age group There are almost of this group in a total seniors population of 2800 in Halton Hills Of Haltons seniors more than 16000 are between the ages of 65 and 74 But the Regional report points to an increase in services needed for rural seniors In Halton Hills 23 per cent of the population lives in rural areas The Region says this could mean more of the elderly are institu tionalized If access to communi ty and home support services is limited individuals may seek in stitutionalization at an earlier time than required the report says It points to transportation problems in the rural areas as a prime reason for lack of access to ser vices Services such as those offered by the medical profession will also make it necessary for seniors to travel to urban centres says the report Over 25 her cent of the Regions Housing Authorityrun retirement apartments are in Halton Two are in Acton and three are in Georgetown But there are also other services offered locally to seniors The Bennett Health Care Centre in Georgetown also offers retire ment residences And although this 30bed centre has vacancies the nursing home has a waiting list We get applications almost dai ly says Herbert Director Continued on Page Province will cover boards 4 million loss ByBENDUMMETT Herald Staff The Halton Board of Education is taking a waitandsee approach to the provinces proposal to make a fairer and more equitable system for distributing local revenues between the provinces public and catholic school boards As a result of the new sharing tax assessment basesystem which was proposed in the governments recent budget and will come into effect in the Liberals predict the board will lose approx imately millions in tax revenue over the plans six year phasein period while the catholic board will incur an increase of almost million However the government plans to increase the public boards operating grants that the board will actually receive a net gain of just over million compared to its current revenue situation The boards Superintendent of Business Services Jerry Jenkins was reluctant to make any predic tions concerning the governments promises Since the Liberals estimates are based on the 1987 tax assessment figures all the board can do is assume the governments figures are accurate said Mr Jenkins Mr Jenkins counterpart at the Halton Roman Catholic School Board said his board was pleased that its tax base will be increased However he restrained his en thusiasm because proposed changes have yet to be im plemented