Halton Hills Newspapers

Independent & Free Press (Georgetown, ON), 28 Jun 2018, p. 10

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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, Ju ne 28 ,2 01 8 | 10 905-877-1237905-877-1237Certified Mechanics on Duty Just ask! coupon ✃ TIRES! All Sizes All Brands We are Diesel Vehicle specialists! Fleet Maintenance/Programs available all auto & truck service Boost your starting power with DeKa Batteries! ✃ Car & Truck, ATV, RV, Motorcycles, Snowmobiles & More! Best Pricing on all Products 20 Armstrong Avenue, Georgetown BE RE ADY FOR SUMM ER TRAVE L! BE RE ADY SUMM ER VEL! TIRES! All Brands We have Anco All Season Wiper Blades! Vehicles + TAX Most Vehicles $3995 only • Oil Change • Antifreeze Check • Lubrication • 52 point inspection • Battery & Wiper Blade Check • FREE FLUID TOP UPS SuMMer Special!* * Up to 6 Ltr. Limited time offer • Upgrade to synthetic for $15 extra. only $7.49/ea installed. Car & Truck, A The Ministry of Educa- tion is preventing the Hal- ton public and Catholic school boards from renew- ing the Education Develop- ment Charges bylaw - a move than can result in the loss of millions of dollars for both boards. The bylaw, adopted in June 2013, expires on June 24 this year, and the Minis- try of Education has deemed its renewal a politi- cally sensitive matter and has announced a halt until the new provincial govern- ment is sworn in, which could potentially take weeks, the board said. Through the Education Development Charges (EDC) bylaw, developers of residential and non-resi- dential projects are re- quired to pay levies, which allow the Halton boards to purchase land for new school sites as well as put funds toward any remain- ing EDC deficits. Eighty- five per cent of education land costs are recovered from residential develop- ment and 15 per cent from non-residential develop- ment. Halton District School Board consultant Jack Am- mendolia, of Watson & As- sociates Economists Ltd., told the board of trustees on June 20 that the bylaw renewal blockage will re- sult in a monthly loss of about $5 million for both boards combined and ap- proximately a $2.8 million monthly loss for the Hal- ton District School Board alone (about $127,000 per day). Halton District School Board chair Andréa Gre- benc is call- ing the situa- tion a crisis and says it will have a direct im- pact on stu- dents from both boards. "The in- formation that is com- ing to us per- sonally makes me angry. I can't believe that the Ministry of Education would deprive us of the ability to purchase land and to have us drain our coffers for political rea- sons, on whim," she said. "We are heading into the construction season. We are going to be losing mil- lions of dollars. This could delay schools. Could this af- fect our classrooms? Yes." Ammen- dolia said the situation is unprece- dented and he wants to reassure the board that all require- ments have been met for the bylaw to be passed, save for ap- proval. "I want the board to be confident that we ex- ceeded what we were supposed to do," Am- mendolia said, adding that up until last week, there was no indication of any issues regarding the bylaw re- newal. Trustees are asking for Halton residents to reach out to their local MPPs in an effort to expedite this process. EDUCATION Halton District School Board's J.W. Singleton Education Centre Graham Paine/Metroland Halton school boards blocked from renewing Education Development Charges bylaw VERONICA APPIA vappia@metroland.com "The information that is coming to us personally makes me angry. I can't believe that the Ministry of Education would deprive us of the ability to purchase land and to have us drain our coffers for political reasons, on whim." - Andréa Grebenc, Halton District School Board chair

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