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OUR READERS WRITE Concerned with assessment The following letter directed to Milton Council has been filed with this newspaper or publication since many rural residents will be concerned as is the author September 1976 Re The Reform of Properly Taxation in Ontario commencing in 1978 based on market value assessment and the effects thereof to the rural residents of the Regional Municipality of Halton owning land containing less than acres Dear Sir The following paragraphs are listed alphabetically Tor ease of reference in antlcipattonofyourcomments A Present local by laws and require rural residents to have larger than normal amounts of land and residences minimum foot frontage minimum foot house area This will surely result in excessively high property taxes under the new system Many of your rural residents occupy land which became available simply because it was not suitable farm land and subsequently was severed and sold for purposes resulting in some fairly large residential properties There is no possibility of far these lands to qualify for land tax assistance under the new taxation system Many of these properties arc today located in green belt areas or areas where further severances are not permitted due to various by laws and etc This will prevent rural residents from reducing their present land holdings in order to reduce their land axes to a reasonable level under the new taxation system Managed Forest Tax Reduction Programmes require that the forest portion comprises acres or more in order to qualify for a per cent tax reduction paid by the government People with acres or less cannot qualify for this lax reduction under the present or new tax system E market value system of taxation it is probable that many rural residents will be unable to afford to pay the anticipated drastic land tax in creases on these larger than normal residential properties Excessive land taxes with no tax assistance or alternatives available would result in many of your present rural residents being forced to sell their entire holdings Selling could be very difficult as prospective buyers would not be interested in purchasing these large properties due to the excessive land taxes under the new system G Market values would then rapidly diminish thereby feeling the very basis of the new market value taxation system With regard to the aforementioned points It is moat im porta that consideration be given Ihe many rural residents entrapped within this particular set of circumstances The end result or any successful taxation system must be realistic and fall within a person s ability to pay With these points in mind the following questions are listed numerically to fascllitate coordination of your answers 1 Due to your past minimum requirements for rural residential land and housing will there be any consideration given to the fair taxation of rural residents with larger than normal properties If so how Will rural residents unable to qualify for far or reforestration tax assistance be allowed special consideration to at least allow severances of larger properties frozen by green belt areas or by laws and When can we hope to receive the results of your preliminary impact study of anticipated tax rales based on the new market value taxation system What would be your estimated yearly total tax in dollars of an average conventional square foot home located on rural property with a market value on land of a How and by whom will market values be determined for the new taxation system Market values will surely fluctuate due to general economic factors and the reactions caused by the new tax reform It will be difficult to keep in step Will market values be determined every year Should market values drop would taxes drop accordingly a What is being done to coordinate the Halton regional plan with the new property taxation system in order lo have a truly fair and realistic system Please distribute copies of this letter to all members of council for their reference prior to your council meeting of October Looking forward meeting with you and obtaining your consideration and support on our behalf 1 remain Yours truly J Vassatlo Box HO Campbell He Ont LOP I el 1519822 The Acton Free Press Wed October 13 1976 5 Halloween on Oct 30 if council gives okay ROSEMARY AVENUE children are backing the newly arrived red and white Block Parent signs which are appearing in town windows Block Parent applicants are a meeting in Robert Little School on Oc tober 26 starting at 7 p Holding signs are from the left Robinson Brau Harkms Matthew Fleet David Harkins Wendy Norton Gareth Marks Nancy Norton Steve Harkins Heath Norton and Blake Norton Booth runs for regional post Garbage or children Editors Note A copy of this letter addressed to NDP leader Stephen Lewis and Liberal leader Dr Stuart Smith was filed with this newspaper for publication Honorable Sirs As a supporter of the Britannia Citizens Group in I heir opposition to site as a regional garbage dump I welcome the support you have offered our en iron mental concerns At the same time I find your priorities in selecting this cause as deserving of your earnest attention to be peculiar if not perverse in view of your refusal lo provide the slightest backing to the concerns of a par en ratepayer committee In Iheir twoyear quest to improve our public education system In fact you have both been quoted in the press as ridiculing the anguished concerns of a majonty of parents expressed in their behalf by the Renaissance briefs to the Board and to the Minister of Education As a non sectarian partisan citizens committee seeking to exert the civilizing influences of parent power in public education Renaissance has at enormous sacrifice to its nearly 1 members pleaded with the leaders of all parties in Ontario to consider the plight of the majority of parents in Ihis region as reflected in the results of an every householder opinion survey who would prefer lo have their children educated in schools committed lo the traditional Judeo- Christian educational philosophy rather lhan under the destructive influences of the permissive secularism dominant now in the public schools Renaissance contends that in its year intensive quest for improvement to the public schools there are no problems en countered that would not be resolved by allowing schools commuted to such traditional values to compete on equal economic terms with the secular alter natives which now have a government monopoly In public education in Ontario Premier Davis and Education Minister Wells have demonstrated a willingness to consider the validity of the basic human rights of these parents which are now being grossly violated in present system There are signs lhat the Davis government is beginning to respond to these concerns and we are hopeful that Ontario parents will be permitted alternatives in an open educational system which is compatible with the character of our pluralistic society As leaders of the opposition parties your studied avoidance of parental concerns in education coupled with your enthusiasm for the environmental issue raised by our group suggests that in your priorities our garbage is more lo you lhan our children Sincerely Ken Campbell Renaissance Ontario Box Milton Councillor Roy Booth dally announced his intention to run for reelection to council He will seek the lion of regional councillor for Ward Three Booth has served us coun for Ward Three for the past three years and previously as councillor for Ward in Georgetown prior regional During that lime Booth wd chairman of the legis lalion and member of the consulting committee to form the Region of and of ilion ind planning committee He is present a council representative on George lown Hospital Board a member of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and is a director of the Highland Games Committee Booth is a member of Georgetown Optimists Club and Royal Canadian Legion having served In the Canadian Navy in the 1950S Booth is most concerned about the formation of the Officii plans for the Town of Hills and Region of Hilton local town planning revitalizatum of the down town eore with a It says Booth was not original in favor of regional govern His feelings now are It here lo and it up to us lo make it work We need strong representation lo regional There are only four councillors and Ihe m from Hills weight of numbers is in Oak Milt and Burlington soil sup to people to send who will moke them selves lie and who are eunversinl with the planning and legislation need of Northern Booth I that Hie last hue gone verj well the toe il level how ever he thinks tint improve should be it local level There is a real of communis between region levels ind Ihe people hose lixcs are paying the shot There are loo many people at the region who have idea of the needs of the Booth is very much opposed to Ihe building of Million municipal employees complex fie said he will continue lo be until such lime as it cm be proven that the housing of all the towns department in one building will be a benefit town the cost of such a building can be justified by increased efficiency and a possible reduction of staff there wilt be no increase in staff which usually companies any move by executives into lavish more spacious quarters ind the costs will not alter the existing precarious Booth resides in Ward Three with his fimily and owns and operates a family business consisting of two ret stores both in Ward Three Youngsters in Hills could be trick or treating on October instead of Ihe traditional October 31 Ballon Hills Finance and Personnel committee last evening Tuesday received a tetter from the Rev R C Lohncs of Maple Ave Baptist Church Georgetown requesting council to change the date He asked the com mittee to please observe the Lord Day and pointed out 22227 voters in town There are voters on Ihe new voters list for Hills compared lo a previous total of ac cording to Doug clerk administrator An advertisement will appear in local newspapers on October with a posting of the preliminary list of voters and steps to be taken to revise it The final date for revision Mr said is November 20 The lists will be posted in the Clerk Administrators office and a copy in each polling subdivision the last time Ha Howe en fell on a Sunday evening the date was changed Committee members agreed with Rev Lohnes letter and sent the request on to council Grounds at Ontario Hydro a Pickering generating station cast of Toronto are being developed to provide recrea lional areas for district rest dents A storage compound used during initial station construction has been trans formed into a 28acre hilly parkland and material ex cava ted during the present expansion program Is being piled into a hill designed for skiing Ladies BOOTS It was a fine fall day for Monday s Thanksgiving holi day 400 STYLES and CI ELISSA SHOES FORMERLY ACTON SHOE Mill St E Acton VARIOUS STYLES and COLOURS Harness racing gets underway at Mohawk Camp- on evening SPECIAL JUTE WINTER BLANKETS Regularly 1995 STREET OPEN TO SATDBDAT MEAT RED BRAND BEEF SIRLOIN STEAKS Nielsens YOUR HEADQUARTERS FOR JEANS CORDS SHIRTS VESTS DOWNTOWN Lean SHOULDER ROASTS Tender BLADE SHORT RIB ROASTS RUMP ROAST 1 Choice PRIME RIB ROAST 129 Lb Lean GROUND BEEF Fresh SMALL LINK SAUSAGE 95 Lb For Your Freezer GROUND BEEF 10 lb Maple Leaf Sliced SIDE BACON lb Pkg 159 I LOVELL BROS MODERN MEAT MARKET Mill St Introducing the greatest aid to litter prevention since the pop refillable pop bottle Remember days when all pop bottles were returnable and Your Ontario Ministry of Environment wanls bring those days back because there were a lot advanlages to the rehllables Their re use saved energy and raw materials involved in manufacture And more important people returned refillable bodies So didn 1 become and garbage disposal problem that throwaway botlles and cans are causing today OnOctoberl 1976anewlawwent into effect says that within six months retail vendors will be required stock and display in refillable bottles any size flavour and brand of soft drink offer in refillable boltles In other words they have offer you a choice It also requires that retailers selling soil drinks in bottles now accept and refund cash deposits of at least 10 on small sizes and 20f on large sizes And amounts of these deposits must be shown separately from the actual price of the pop Your Ministry of Environment thinks that a return will save energy help alleviate garbage disposal problems and reduce number of landfill sites It will be a step toward a clean unlittored Ontario Ministry of the Environment Ontario Notice to Ontario Retailers October 1976 you will bo required lo accept deposits on roiilkblo soft drink con lama ft lOf on email and on largo sues You will also bo required lo refund deposits In amounts on all reasonably clean intact rehllablo soft drink containers which you normally This on is wh bo din played by soil drink re leal vendors signs are provided by Ministry I ho Environment and are available our oliicos in location Barrio Cambridge Cornwall Don Mills Gravonhurnl Kingston London North Bay Oak villa Owen Sound ftjmbroko Mot borough SaullSlo Mario Crook Sudbury Thunder Bay Wolland and Windsor or by wiling or phoning Environment Ontario St Clair West Toronto Ontario M4V 1P5 Telephone 416965 1G5B DEPOSIT REFUND FOR SOFT DRINK BOTTLES the Province On la do under the Environments Protection Acl that a cash rotund lull deposit will be paid lor up lo IB Intact and reasonably clean rot liable in my pot arbonatad It drink told hi within the preceding