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

th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 21 ,2 01 7 | 10 Wishing Your Family A Happy Holiday Season! Enriching the lives of Children Since 1985. www.georgetowndaycare.ca LOCATIONS 479 Guelph St., Norval 905-877-4376 • 483 Guelph St., Norval 905-877-4375 Ages 2-5 yrs. Call for space. Nursery School Program Transportation To/From Local Schools A loving and calm environment for newborns to 18 months. Infant Care • Beautiful parkland setting at the Lucy Maud Montgomery Park • Nutritious Lunches & Snacks made on site Full time Daycare Offerin g house call service s Spays / Neuters Vaccinations Medicine Surgery / Orthopedics Digital X-Ray Dental Surgery / Cleaning Emergencies Prescription Food In-house Lab Behavioural Counseling www.guelphstreetanimalhospital.com 184 Guelph Street, Georgetown ON. L7G 4A7 • gsahvets@gmail.com Open 7 days a week! 8 3 8 7 905-702-VETS DECEMBER SPECIAL SAVE 20% On All SpAy & nEutEr SErVicES Guelph Street Animal Hospital During the regional council meeting on Dec. 13, Halton passed a 1.9 per cent tax increase for 2018. During the health and services committee meet- ing on Dec. 5, council was presented with a recom- mendation of $311,283,332 in total gross expendi- tures. During the planning and public works commit- tee meeting on Dec. 6, council received a recom- mendation of $231,902,000. The following day, on Dec. 7, the administration and finance committee re- quested a total of $96,401,510. A number of programs in next year's budget re- ceived increases, includ- ing: Comprehensive Hous- ing Strategy: $3.2 million. This increase is expected to provide an additional rent supplement to the re- gion's housing clients. Capacity to Prevent and Address Homeless- ness: $346,000. Children's Services: $9.4 million. This increase is expected to improve the quality, accessibility, af- fordability, flexibility and inclusivity in licensed child care programs. Since last year, the service has been reduced by al- most 10 per cent. Greenland Secure- ment: $800,000. This ser- vice will provide sustain- able funding for the Greenlands Securement program through the Green Fund reserve. Tax Writeoffs: $930,000. This budget will more closely reflect the seven- year average in signifi- cantly increasing trends in tax appeals. Assessment Growth Adjustment: $2.2 million. This increase is funded by the tax stabilization re- serve to address the 2017 assessment growth short- fall. The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) has received a $150.1 million operating budget in 2018: an increase of $5.1 million. It also received a capital budget of $7.4 million, which is $2.4 million less than last year. On Dec. 5, commission- er of health Matt Ruf shed some light on the health and social services com- mittee on funding for the health department, and shared with council the department will reach a shortfall of $10.2 million in 2018. Also included in the budget is room for five new red-light cameras to be installed in the region in the coming year. According to commis- sioner of finance and re- gional treasurer Mark Scinocca, provincial sub- sidies are increasing by 9.8 per cent, or $15.6 mil- lion. On Dec. 6, commission- er of planning and public works Jim Harnum told committee the upcoming budget details for the de- partment. In his presentation, he explained road capital fi- nancing has increased by $1.7 million to address ris- ing state-of-good-repair needs. Road maintenance contracts increased by $396,000, or 3.4 per cent. Hydro has increased by $131,000, where money will be allocated for traffic signals and street light- ing. A $85,000 figure has been added to the budget to make way for a road op- erations safety techni- cian. Lastly, waste man- agement has increased by $490,000 to accept plastic bags and film in the blue box. Harnum went over five key components which outlined the overall bud- get: water, and the com- pletion of the long-term water meter strategy re- port, automated meter reading, as well as replac- ing 12,500 pulse meters and large meters to in- crease bill accuracy; wastewater, by address- ing climate change and continuing the downspout disconnection program; roads, and the develop- ment of an advanced transportation manage- ment system to improve the flow of traffic on re- gional roads, and the LED conversion for street lights; waste manage- ment, by reviewing the new solid waste master plan and to begin accept- ing plastic bags and film in the Blue Box; and infra- structure, by developing and implementing an as- set management plan and begin the development of an integrated water, wastewater and transpor- tation master plan. Next year, water utility rates will increase by 5.7 per cent, or $24 a house- hold. Wastewater will in- crease by 2.2 per cent, or $11 per household. In total, water utility rates will raise by 3.8 per cent, or $35 per household. Harnum also told com- mittee the region had pro- jected 35 kilometres of roads were to be resur- faced in 2017, but only five kilometres of that was completed. In 2018, the re- gion is expecting 32 kilo- metres of resurfacing to be accomplished. Overall, the region has passed a 1.9 per cent in- crease. More information can be found at halton.ca NEWS Region of Halton passes 1.9% tax increase Halton cops receive an increase of $5.1M KATHRYN BOYLE kboyle@theifp.ca SIGN UP TODAY'S HEADLINES The latest, weather, sports, events and more delivered daily right to your inbox SIGN UP AT www.theifp.ca/newsletter