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4- The Oakville Beaver, Friday December 19, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Take your first steps to becoming a better dancer! HOLIDAY SPECIAL Regional tax hike trimmed to 2.2% By Tim Foran Metroland West Media Group $ · more fun! · self confidence! con dence! · meet people! · grace & poise! gift CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE · GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE ·· GIFT certificates available 25 OAKVILLE 225 Lakeshore Rd (2nd Floor) 905-815-3237 HAMILTON 1092 Main Street W www.fredastaire.ca 905-522-3237 Ph Phone: (905) 825 8088 825-8088 www.volvoofoakville.com For the Health of Our Community Two last-minute announcements of extra cash in Halton's coffers allowed regional council Wednesday to reduce the tax hike for residents to 2.2 per cent from the proposed 2.8 per cent for the Region's portion of 2009 property taxes. As part of its 2009 budget, council also created a recession reserve to prepare for a possible increase in the amount of money it pays out for welfare, a number that could increase in late 2009 due to the current economic downturn. The 2009 budget also includes an expected $50 jump in the amount residents pay on their water bills, an increase of 6.7 per cent over this year. Water and wastewater services are paid for through water bills, not property taxes. The reduction in the expected property tax increase only amounts to about $7.50 for a "typical household" with an assessed value of $300,000, but the Region is touting the overall increase as one of the lowest in the Province. In total dollars, the average homeowner would pay about $860 for regional services next year, such as garbage collection, snow plowing and road reconstruction, an increase of 1.7 per cent over 2008. The same household would pay $443 for police services, an increase of 3.4 per cent. The two services combine to make up the overall 2.2 per cent hike. "We've worked very hard to get to that level," Regional Chair Gary Carr had said before budget talks. "Our staff is the best in the entire province." Going into this week's budget committee meetings, staff had proposed an overall 2.8 per cent hike. However, news that the Region's assessment growth was higher than expected and the Province was stepping up to meet its funding commitments to the Region's emergency medical services (EMS) gave council extra funds to help mitigate the tax increase. However, though the Province is now closer to meeting its 50-50 funding target for EMS, Halton staff said a funding shortfall from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care for other health and social services programs is still $7.5 million. The Region didn't budget to receive that money in 2009. In fact, until the Province announces its own budget next spring, Halton has enacted a hiring freeze on all new employees in case the economic downturn gets worse. Despite the freeze, staff left the approximate 75 new hires in the budget. Since it is likely those new employees won't be hired until the third quarter of 2009 at least, council voted to put those cost savings into a new recession reserve. Any extra investment earnings not included in the budget will also be added to the reserve. Over the past four years, Halton has received $27 million in gross investment earnings above expectations. For Monday's budget committee meeting, Burlington Councillor Jack Dennison proposed a number of the new hires in the budget be removed and the resultant savings be used to reduce the amount residents pay in property taxes and on their water bills. The new hires are in the budget to cover new growth, Dennison said before the meeting. "The new growth is slowing down, it's almost stopped completely. "Houses aren't selling. If they aren't selling, they aren't going to be building," he said. "You don't need to put in the services if people aren't building houses." His motion along with a few other cuts he suggested be made to the budget were defeated. Overall, the Region's 2009 budget foresees gross expenditures of: · $409 million on regional services · $111 million on police services · $152 million on water and wastewater services · $515 million on capital projects, of which $143.7 million is tax supported In total, property taxes would pay for just more than $300 million of the above services and the water bill approximately $146 million. The majority of capital projects are covered by development charges and other sources of funding. A householder's property tax bill isn't simply made up of Regional and police services. A portion of the tax bill also covers services covered by the municipalities of Oakville, Burlington, Milton or Halton Hills. The final portion of the tax bill covers education taxes, set by the Ministry of Education in 2009. We share the same JOYS OF THE SEASON. May this Holiday season bring you the joy of family and friends. This year we were blessed with community partners who raised money on behalf of the Oakville Hospital Foundation to purchase vital medical equipment for Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) that government funding alone cannot provide. On behalf of the doctors, nurses and support staff at OTMH, the Oakville Hospital Foundation would like to wish you a happy and safe holiday season and all the best next year. Thank you for your generosity and support. P: (905) 338-4642 F: (905) 257 -6758 www.oakvillehospitalfoundation.com Darryl R Demille Ins Agcy Ltd Andrew Heideman, Agent Angelo Gualtieri, Agent Deborah E Bartucci, Agent Stacey Sutherland, Agent Stephen Ostapchuk, Agent Daniel Durst, Agent Thank you for the health of our community! statefarm.caTM P065077CN 08/06