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Achilles Mazda of Milton 1195 SteelesAve East, Milton ON L9T2X8 289-627-1800 or 1-866-620-3248 www.achillesmazda.ca • info@achillesmazda.ca shown ON SELECT MODELS FOR A LIMITED TIME REFINANCING? PURCHASING? BOBWOODS, Broker (905) 877-1490 360 Guelph St., Georgetown Five Year Variable FSCO #10259 Division of 1490845 Ont. Ltd. 2.3% 5 Year Fixed 2.54% • your window & door professionals • 341 Guelph St., Unit 3 Georgetown 905.873.0236 www.buy-wise.ca info@buy-wise.ca • awarded readers choice 24 times • Visit our showroom Thursday, August 27, 2015 Halton Hills' award-winning newspaper serving Acton & Georgetown 72 Pages 50 Cents (+HST) Rocking and rolling downtown Page 25 Visit us at www.theifp.ca facebook.com/Independent&FreePress Twitter: @IFP_11 Mobile: m.theifp.ca UP FOR THE CHALLENGE Canadian Tire pledges $20K to Halton Hills Bike Challenge See page 8 Mustangs on the March Soccer team comes together as a unit for impressive season See pg. 33 Council sets prelim budget direction-- $60 increase Damage to an Acton home is estimated at $40,000 to $50,000, after a blaze broke out in the garage Monday night. Halton Hills Fire Department crews found the garage at 10 Beardmore Cres. fully engulfed in flames upon arrival around 10 p.m. "As a result of our quick response and quick ac- tions of our firefighters, the fire was quickly extin- guished and contained to solely the garage area," said Harry Olivieri, Deputy Fire Chief, Prevention and Public Education. There was no extension of the fire into the home and no water or smoke damage was visible in the interior. No adjacent homes were damaged, however one of the cars in the driveway received heat dam- age. Neither the home's occupants nor firefighters were injured. At this time no cause has been determined, said Olivieri, but it is under investigation by the inves- tigators from the HHFD and the Ontario Fire Mar- shal's Office. By Cynthia Gamble cgamble@theifp.ca Fire damages Acton home Halton Hills Fire Department found a blaze in the garage of a home on Beardmore Cres. in Acton on Monday night. The fire was contained to the garage. Photo by Ryan Hamilton Preliminary numbers from Town staff indicate taxpayers may be fork- ing over at least $60 more for their Halton Hills property taxes next year. Town council adopted a motion Monday evening directing staff to prepare the 2016 budget with no greater levy increase than 3.9 per cent, consisting of a base budget in- crease of 3.3 per cent and dedicated fire services levy of 0.6 per cent. This would translate into an additional $60 for the average Halton Hills home assessed at $400,000. Paired with the Region's po- tential tax increase of 2.3 per cent, or $28, and a typical homeowner could be paying an extra $88 in tax- es next year. In Halton Hills, the increase is needed to fund the Town's $42-mil- lion operating budget that covers everything from the cost of running facilities like arenas to staff salaries. Over 75 per cent of the net budget is dedicated to direct service deliv- ery for Halton Hills residents, said Town Commissioner of Finance and Treasurer Ed DeSousa. "We are in the service delivery By Melanie Hennessey Special to The IFP Continued on page 3