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

THE HERALD Wednesday It will cost 165 million to run Halton in By BEN DUMMETT the Herald taxpayers are facing a 5964 increase to their tax bill in If proposed taxsupported operating budget which calls for a 987 per cent increase is approved the average Halton household will pay just over for all Regional services this year Council will vote on the budget in early March the extensive growth in the Region not only in 1989 but growth which has accumulated since The Regional tax bill is made up of three components water and sewage rates the taxsupported operating budget for Regional ser vices such as police health and public works and the solid waste disposal budget The water and sewage rates have increased and 73 per cent respectively over last year The water rate is expected to increase just over from last year to in The sewage rate is ex pected to increase by just over from to The solid waste disposal budget is expected to increase by 386 per cent from in to 61 this year When all three tax components are combined Haiton taxpayers should pay just over more this year for an increase of 10 per cent Halton residents have tradi tionally had lower increases in their tax bill compared to the in creases other Regions have had to face in recent years says the Regions finance and treasurer commissioner Joe And this years increase forecast is no exception he says Ive talked with my counter parts at some of the other Regions and we are in fact recommending a lower tax increase compared to their recommended increases It will cost about million to run Region in 1990 That figure excludes education and the responsibilities coming under con trol of the local municipalities in the Region The taxsupported operating budget now under consideration represents about per cent of Haltons total budget The Regions report gives several reasons for the budgetary increase from just over million in to million proposed this year including the annuitization of new and panded programs started part way through last year an extra 200000 to begin the im plementation of a pay equity plan equal pay for equal work to meet federal govern ment budget initiatives including changes to Unemployment In surance Commission premiums an extra to cover the employment health levy which has replaced Ontario Health Insurance Premiums an increase of to meet the provincial governments social assistance reforms The Regions budget also allows for an increase in the police budget from just over million in 1989 to about million this year The police budget makes up well over per cent of the operating budget Haltons board of police commis sioners will vote on the proposed increase tomorrow Thursday The skyrocketing of the Regions tipping fees the price Halton pays per tonne for waste disposal that is transported Halton mainly to sites in Niagara Falls Canada and Niagara Falls New York is another reason for the in crease in the taxsupported operating budget The average household will have to pay an estimated 17 more for waste disposal this year compared to last year The fees have doubled and tripled over the last few years Mr Rinaldo said He attributed the fee increases to more stringent en vironmental regulations and a greater demand for landfill sites But Mr Rinaldo expects the fees to drop in when Halton is scheduled to open its Regional dump site in Milton on Highway 25 near Britannia Road UNITED WAY OF HILLS requires AN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Fund Raising Experience Leadership Organizational Skills Communication Skills Average 3 days a week at Resume be received by February 7 UNITED WAY OF HALTON HILLS CO JOHN FALUDON DRIVE GEORGETOWN L7G 4168779058 APPRENTICESHIP START A NEW CAREER Begin Your Apprenticeship at Georgetown and District High School in a TRADE Suggested Ages 1824 Contact Bert Cocks Technical Department 8776966 Housing prices have increased but futures hard to read By BEN the Herald Despite rising house prices in Georgetown as indicated in a re cent Royal Lepage survey on house prices a local real estate broker a crystal ball is needed to predict house prices for 1990 I hope not to see an increase in housing prices of more than five or six per cent but you really need a crystal ball to know for sure says Dave SoaJ brokerowner of ReMax Suburban Georgetown Mr Soal pointed to the interest rate as a key factor in determining bouse prices He said he was in itially leery of a drop in interest rates but recently longterm mor tgage rates could come down by about one or two points And if in terest rates drop then house pnces could jump in price by as much as per cent he said brokerowner of Royal City Realty says he doesnt expect rapid increases in prices this year But they could go up by more than expected if people rush to buy houses near the end of 1990 to avoid the federal govern ments Goods and Services Tax which comes into effect in Hughes a real estate agent with the National Real Estate Service office in Georgetown also predicts the possibility of the GST effect in the market during the latter half of the year People might try to sneak in before the GST takes effect she said The real estate agency Royal LePage recently issued its survey of Canadian house prices in Canada and in the report says average house prices in Georgetown are as follows a detached bungalow now costs representing a per cent increase from last years average an executive detached two- storey house has gone up by per cent from in to 310000 this year a standard twostorey house has increased 125 per cent from in to this year a senior executive house will in crease from in to representing a 132 per cent increase Gary Brand the brokerowner of NRS in Georgetown stresses surveys of this sort are inevitably inaccurate The data can only be based on data accumulated from the multiplelisting service which is available to all brokers But private listings of a broker are unavailable to other brokers This means any average of house prices for any area will not reflect the prices of all houses sold said Mr Brand Ms Hughes Mr Soal and Mr Nikic all say the LePage report on average price of a bungalow is undervalued They say the estimated price of an executive detached home is slightly overestimated But the price of a particular house will depend on location and its condition they say Both Mr Soal and Mb Hughes agree that the estimated price for a standard twostorey house is too high Mr Nikic disagrees He says the going rate is higher ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL BOARD FRENCH IMMERSION PROGRAM The Halton Roman Catholic School Board offers an optional French Im mersion Program to Its English language students entering Grade In September 1990 A parent Information meeting Is scheduled as follows Halton Hills Tuesday January 30 1 730 pm Holy Cross School 222 Maple Avenue Georgetown lor further Information please contact Michele H Longlade Program Consultant Elt 214 Please note that this Is not a registration meeting Mr D Schrenk Chairman of the Board Byrnes Director of Education SUPER SPECIAL Save 30 Off Used Car Revitalization Package Interior Service Includes Thorough Vacuuming Complete Interior of all fabrics upholstery carpet Vinyl Leather Cleaning and Dressing Complete Interior Detailing Exterior Service Includes Thorough Hand Washing Complete Exterior Cleaning and Protective Wax Application Complete Exterior Detailing SALE ENDS FEBRUARY 3rd YOUR ONESTOP CAR CARE CENTRE IB KEEPING CABS IN SHAPE WORLDWIDE CALL TO BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT TODA Yl 8730570 265 Guelph St Georgetown OPEN Monday- Thursday 9 pm Friday am9 pm Saturday