dentistoakville.com 905-842-6030 MECHANICAL SERVICES AUTO AUTO AU TOPR PRO PR O OA OAKV OAKV KVIL ILLE E SNA NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR 2010 ontario's top newspaper - 2005-2008 2 2 Wyecroft Road, Oakv 221 kvill ille e Bachelor helps out Luke's Legacy Artscene autoprooakville.mechanicnet.com 905-469-2442 2 A member of Metroland Media Group Ltd. Vol. 51 No. 17 "Using Communication To Build Better Communities" FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013 28 pages $1.00 (plus tax) A mountain of books Property taxes could increase for Kerr Village By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Increasing assessments, and the increasing property taxes that go with it, brought about a dozen members of the Kerr Village BIA to Town Hall, Wednesday, to discuss what is becoming an ever greater concern for the community. During the Feb. 6 meeting, BIA Executive Director Richard Messer outlined the dire situation many Kerr Street businesses are finding themselves in following the most recent property assessment findings, which were released in late 2012. "Some of the property (assessments) in the geographical area of Kerr Village have grown to the point where they could be very, very seriously impacted by the current tax rate," said Messer. "Some of the properties were assessed (four years ago) at $300,00-$350,000. Under the new assessment they've reached up into the $600,000-$700,000 range... If the assessment maintains status quo and is accurate, the tax rate associated with that assessment could end up increasing taxes for a small business in Oakville by literally $12,000 per year." Messer said he doesn't want to see property taxes increase on Kerr Street to the point where businesses can no longer stay there. "Is the assessment correct and if so how is the tax rate going to be lowered or bell-curved to support what the Town needs, but also to keep the Kerr Village and the other geographic areas of Oakville alive," asked Messer. To answer some of these questions MPAC (Municipal See Residents page 3 GRAHAM PAINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER / @halton_photog FOR THOSE IN NEED: Books with no Bounds founders Emma Mogus, 14, (left) and her sister Julia,15, sit amid the stacks of more than 5,000 donated books in their Oakville living room. The duo also shows the gifts of First Nations mitts given to them as a thank you from the Nishnawbe Aski Nations elders. See story on page 9. SPECIAL OF THE WEEK 2009 SONATA $ 10,945 105 $ 1.9 Financing as low as FINANCE FOR + LICENSE TAXES INCLUDED $0 Down 60 months BI-WEEKLY Stk #U7302 *Rate only available on select models. See Hyundai of Oakville for complete details. + HST & LICENSE %*