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Superior is, well, superior among local businessesSuperior Glove president Tony Geng (left) and his brother vicepresident Joe Geng show off some of the firm's products. The longtime Acton company was named the Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce's Business of the Year. For a complete list of winners of this year's Business Achievement Awards see pages 9, 11. Photo by Ted Brown Town tax hike of $50 approved CYNTHIA GAMBLE Staff Writer Attempts to lower the 2007 Town tax increase failed to fly with the majority of the Halton Hills budget committee at the final budget debate meeting on Tuesday night. These included lowering the 2 per cent dedicated tax for the pavement management program by half a percentage point, hiring only two firefighters instead of four, and giving taxpayers a tax credit from the savings in the winter control budget. Instead, budget committee (all members of council) accepted staff-recommended budget cuts of $61,600 and approved the 2007 operating budget of $22,327,200-- a 5.4 per cent increase over last year's budget. It includes a 2.1 per cent increase over the base budget, 2 per cent dedicated solely to the pavement management plan, and 1.3 per cent for the hiring of four full-time firefighters. Confirmation is expected at Monday's (Feb. 5) council meeting. This means town taxes will go up by $50 to $980 for the average homeowner with a home assessed at $300,000 in 2007. Combined with Halton Region taxes, which have already been approved, and education taxes, which remain at the 2006 level, the tax increase for the average Halton Hills taxpayer is 2.7 per cent ($82) for a total of $3,074. It was Mayor Rick Bonnette who brought forward the suggestion to use 0.5 per cent of the 2 per cent dedicated tax for the pavement management program to reduce the budget by $100,000 (from a 5.6 per cent tax increase to 5.2 per cent). The Town plans to levy $400,000 from taxpayers this year for this program, and the money collected goes towards resurfacing urban roads. Work alternates between communities and this year, primarily Ward 4 streets get the special treatment. See TOWN, pg. 3