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6 ·The IFP· Halton Hills ·Tuesday, September 18, 2012 OPINION Share the road It's a fact of life in rural communities-- every autumn tractors take to our roads in more abundant numbers as farmers head out for the harvest. While they are certainly known to slow traffic at times, we encourage everyone to be ease off the accelerator, leave plenty of space (manoeuvreing can take a lot of room) and be patient until it's safe to pass. But sometimes many Halton Hills farmers are on the receiving end of a lot of abuse-- from horns blowing, obscene hand gestures, as well as some downright dangerous driving practices-- all because they are driving on the road with slow moving farm machinery. More times than not, farmers will pull as far onto the shoulder as possible, giving other drivers a chance to slip by. Most collisions between farming implements and other vehicles on the road are the result of inattentive or impatient drivers-- sometimes both-- according to the OPP. With that in mind, police are offering the following tips for people driving in rural areas. · Anticipate there may be farm equipment in use and travel below the posted speed limit-- especially when cresting a hill · If you see large farm equipment on the road, slow down, be patient and pass only when it is safe to do so · Do not tailgate large farm equipment as the operator may not be able to see you · Do not blow your horn at the operator of the farm equipment-- they likely will not be able to hear you due to the noise produced by the equipment. (And it's rude too.) Farmers have an important job to do, so be sure to share the roads. If you ate today, you just might wanna wave to that farmer on the road up ahead, not give him the finger. Could be he played a major role in putting food on your dinner table at home. So relax, slow down, and take a moment to enjoy the beauty of the world around you. 905-873-0301 Publisher: Ken Nugent General manager: Steve Foreman (sforeman@theifp.ca) Retail advertising manager: Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@theifp.ca) Managing editor: John McGhie (jmcghie@theifp.ca) Distribution manager: Nancy Geissler (ngeissler@theifp.ca) Classifieds Kristie Pells (classified@theifp.ca) Accounting Rose Marie Gauthier Editorial Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@theifp.ca) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@theifp.ca) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@theifp.ca) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@theifp.ca) Letters policy Letters must include an address and daytime phone number. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 150 words and may be edited for content and/or length. Publication is not guaranteed. Email: jmcghie@theifp.ca Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1. Steve Nease Letters to the editor Tax hikes are `excessively high' Dear editor, So Councillor Jane Fogal is "pretty happy." with a proposed 5.9% tax hike for 2013. Last year at this time the proposed 2012 tax hike was 5.4% that turned into a final 5.9% hike by January. This hike was met with no dissent on council. And in case you may have forgotten the 2011 tax hike was 4.9%. In 2007 Halton Hills had a budget of $22.5 million and for 2012 the budget is $33 million. So over a span of six years our town's leadership has presided over a 45% budget expansion, but inflation over the same time has risen only 16% and the population is up only 6%. For the past few years the Town's leaders like to quote favourably our tax rate in comparison to surrounding communities. And it is apparent they will keep doing that until the advantage is wiped out. And again, just like last year the town's leadership downplayed the tax hike by suggesting the other two parts of the property tax bill will be smaller than normal and will help mitigate the overall impact of the towns spending. As if the Town can justify excessively high hikes by pairing it with other governments' prudent spending. So long as Halton Hills government council can extract extra cash from its citizens with little difficulty, then expect annual six percent tax hikes as the new Halton Hills norm. Ian McKay, Georgetown am willing to bet there are not too many seniors out there, that share their happiness. Anita Shelton, Georgetown Allison's Farm Market came through On behalf of the Glen Williams Canada Day Strawberry Tea Committee I would like to extend a huge thank you to Allison's Farm Market. On Sat. June 30, when I arrived to pick up my 26 quarts of strawberries, inadvertently a clerical error had been made and there were none available. The manager, Joan, was extremely apologetic and promised that I would have the strawberries by Sunday morning. Not only did she come through with the strawberries but she rounded up another employee, Emily, and Emily's mother to the have berries washed, hulled and sliced for me to pick up. On top of this great effort, Bob Allison insisted that the berries should be complimentary. Our Canada Day Strawberry Tea for Seniors went from a potential disaster to a great success and we cannot thank Allison's enough for their great community support. Jill Scott, Georgetown Tax hikes are hard on seniors Dear editor, Re: Council `happy' with proposed 5.9% tax hike Hey that's great for Twon council and those who can afford it, but what about us Seniors on a fixed income. Where do we dig up this extra money? I can't keep up with the increases for hydro, gas, food, everything really! Seniors don't have jobs or any prospects of any raises to help us keep up with the rising cost of living, so should we all just resign to selling our homes? There is a big shortage of reasonable priced condos or apartments that are geared for senior's income and senior's needs as we age. So `Council' may be happy, but I WEB POLL RESULTS (Go to www.theifp.ca) Should Ontario teachers follow their union leaders' call to withdraw from doing voluntary extracurricular activities in response to the Province's implementation of wage freezes? · Yes (52%, 51 Votes) · No (48%, 45 Votes) The Independent & Free Press The Independent & Free Press is published Tuesday and Thursday and is one of several Metroland Media Group Ltd. community newspapers. Editorial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.