GSS OFFICE SUPPLIES SocntwW SwvlcM 8772282 LIVING Guolph St Hwy Georgetown laFrl 900900 900b00 Home Newspaper of Halton Hills Established 1 866 FREE DISTRIBUTION WEDNESDAY JULY PAGES Hydro bills could increase by 20 per cent The Herald Hills residents could see their monthly hydro bill increase by almost 20 per cent in 1991 Thats the figure Jerry Trudell general manager of Halton Hills Hydro will use to determine peo ples individual rates for A preliminary report on the expected increase will be made public in late August said Mr Trudell at the monthly utility meeting of com missioners Friday The increase will reflect a per cent increase in the amount Ontario Hydro charges local utilities such as Halton Hills Hydro as well as the Federal Goods and Services Sales Tax GST said Tony Jennings the Bruno wins gold chief executive officer for the Municipal Electric Association The is a lobby group for Ontarios electricity utilities Commissioner Bill Smith urged the commission to take action and inform the public how the federal governments policies are to blame for the expected increase to local utility rates Nobody is saying anything new and its going to be here the GST And people are going to say do something but it will be too late said Mr Smith The commission decided to con sider different campaigns already adopted by other utilities to fight the application of the GST to local utility rates Some of the options to be con sidered include the commission sending a flyer protesting the GST accompanying peoples monthly utility bill and the people to send the mail stuffer to local MP Garth Turner or the utility could ask its customers to phone Mr Turners office directly asking why the GST will apply to a public ser vice The stuffers are effective said Mr Jenkins because an MP has tangible proof how many people in the riding protest the idea But the negative side is the MP doesnt have to do anything about the stuf fers received he said A telephone campaign is advantageous because it forces the MP to take a stand he told commissioners Only six per cent of the seven per cent GST will affect utility rates said Mr Jennings Once the GST comes into effect the equip ment suppliers for the utilities will no longer charge the 13 per cent Manufacturing Sales Tax as is done now Utilities will save one per cent once they only have to pay the GST That means the GST caused increase represents a six per cent hike on top of the MEA recommended 128 per cent in crease The is recommending the increase because the group thinks Ontario Hydro should reduce its billion debt faster than it is do ing said Mr Jennings He acknowledged that some peo ple say the debt is not much of a concern but other people said Mr Jennings say the corporation has overextended itself if measured against the standards of private enterprise Mr Jennings also predicted rates will increase by about 50 per cent in 1992 if the increase is adopted Ontario Hydro is proposing it in crease the rates by only 78 per cent The Ontario Energy Board is currently holding a public hearing to get input on what the increase should be The board along with hydros board of directors decide the final rates Mr Jennings predicts the rates will be between Hydros recommended increase and that of the MEA It will probably be about 105 percent Frank Bruno Frank Bruno set two world records winning three gold medals and two silvers at the Sport for the Disabled World Track and Field Championships in Assen Holland this week Bruno a member of the Dawgs team in the Georgetown Mens Flag Football League broke the world records in the and metre dashes In the cerebral patsy class eight division He also placed first in the 100 metre dash and finished second in the shot put and long jump events Official times and distances from the competition will not be available until the team returns from Holland on Monday Earlier this month Bruno set four national records at the On tario Games for the Physically Disabled in in the 100 and metre dashes the long jump and the shot put At the Ontario Games Bruno ran the metre race in seconds the metre in travelled metres in the long jump and hurled the shot put metres Tractors attract youngsters Christopher White left and Nathan Van Page took some rides on miniature versions of the farm vehicles that were on display at the Great Canadian Antique Tractor Field Days in Milton on Saturday The event held at the Ontario Agriculture Museum in Milton featured many farming machines dating back to the all of which are kept in working order by their owners Herald photo by Robert Bisk