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Council considers 12percent tax increase By BRIAN MacLEOD Herald Staff When councillors gather to pore over the Halton Hills operating budget on Monday they will be fac ed with a recommended tax hike of 12 per cent for urban area residents The preliminary operating budget submitted by town treasurer Ray King contains million in expenditures with a total tax bill of for urban area residents Those who live in the rural areas dont have to pay for Regional services such as garbage disposal so their town tax bill will increase by per cent to honing in on budget Garbage disposal is a respon sibility of Halton Region but the costs are collected on the towns tax bill The actual numbers presented to council for approval on March may change pending the operating budget discussions on Monday Last week the towns budget committee which consists of all councillors and the mayor ap proved in principle a 42 million capital expenditure budget of which million would need to be raised through local taxes The preliminary operating budget actually contains a recom mended per cent increase in expenditures including urban ser vice charges That translates into million more than last year In the budget a number of new costs are identified including for the new civic centre to fight the landfill pro posal in the Acton quarry 50000 for reclassification of town staff for extra staff hired last year and 99000 for new staff re quested this year The recommended 21percent tax increase in urban service charges is due mainly to the huge increase in the cost of waste disposaUhisyear Mr King said The 200000 the town wants to set aside to fight the landfill pro posal in Acton represents 33 per cent of the budget increase said Mr King And Mayor Miller said the town may have to pay significantly more than that next year based on the huge amounts of money ratepayers groups in Milton and Burlington spent to fight landfill proposals in their areas In order to reduce expenditures this year town staff have recom mendations eliminating over worth of projects including a study on Actons Fairy Lake a study on possible designated truck routes a Highway 401 industrial corridor servicing study walkway maintenance and extra staff said Mr King On the revenue side the town has had to deal with the provinces decision to freeze unconditional grants at levels Although the town usually receives only a two- Continued on Page OPEN 1010 7 DAYS A WEFK EASTERN ACTON Its Worth the Drive to Acton 8632030 SALES LTD Check out our free Lifetime Service Guarantee Lifetime Service Guarantee FREE DISTRIBUTION WEDNESDAY MARCH 15- J9S9 PAGES Cyanide scare Local grocery stores pull suspect produce Of f and running Eightyearold Benson likes the sweet taste of sap running from the maple trees at sberg Conservation Area Its maple syrup time again and the Mountsbergarea has lapped into trees hoping to produce about litres of maple syrup The maple syrup festival at Mountsberg kick ed off March and runs through April 16 Demonstra tions of new and old technique of maple syrup making are given on site Visitors to located in north Burlington can take the express to the maple syrup festival Herald photo by Brian MacLeod By BRIAN Herald Staff Local supermarkets and fruit stores were busy pulling fruits imported from Chile off the shelves Tuesday morning follow ing the discovery of cyanide in two Chilean grapes in Philadelphia Pa In what is reported to be the largest ban ever imposed on pro duce Health Minister told Canadas stores to remove Chilean fruits and vegetables yesterday Tuesday In Georgetown most stores are removing only grapes plums peaches and nectarines None of the Georgetown stores contacted Tuesday carried any vegetables imported from Chile A spokesman for said peaches nectarines and grapes have been pulled of the shelves of the Guelph Street store but he said there is some confusion among the public One lady brought a cantaloupe back to the store unsure of where it was pro duced the spokesman said A spokesman for Miracle Food Mart on Street wouldnt elaborate on what has been pull ed off the shelves but he did say all the produce imported from Chile has been removed Joe Scibilia owner of the Georgetown Fruit Market on Guelph Street said he has remov ed grapes plums and nectarines from the shelves even though he has received no official warning from the government to remove them Mr Scibilia estimates the ban will cost him about 500 Vitas market on Highway 7 and Sideroad 22 has also reacted to the ban Vitos has removed grapes and plums imported from Chile from its shelves owner Chris Vito says Vitos will refund the fruit if you have the original receipt he said The Georgetown Food Market on Main Street in Moore Park Plaza has removed grapes plums and nectarines from the shelves Like the other stores in Georgetown none of Knechtels vegetables comes from Chile owner Bob Creasy said Knechtels orders its fruit fresh every day so Mr Creasy remov ed Mondays order of fruit as soon as he learned of the ban Tuesday morning Spokesmen for the store and A and P on Street were unavailable to comment on the situation at press time Impaired charged A Bramalea man was charged with impaired driving following a twocar collision in Acton that in jured two passengers Halton Regional Police say a Chevrolet Camaro and a Ford pickup collided shortly after noon Sunday at Main Street and Mill Street in Acton A passenger in the Ford an woman 62 received minor injuries and was treated and released from hospital A second passenger a fouryearold boy received light injuries A Bramalea man 27 will appear in provincial court April 17 on charges of impaired driving