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www .oakville beaver.c om Beaver THE OAKVILLE www.oakvillebeaver.com 12 PAGE PULL-OUT INSIDE! to Kids See Pg .4 Room : See Pg. 8 Kitche n: See Pg. 3 Hom e Thea tre: Se e Pg. 12 Drivew ay: Se e Pg. 2 Living Bedr oom: ROO M TO ROO M, Frid ay July 14, 200 6-1 Total Hom Vacu Closet s: See um: Se e e: See Pg. 9 Pg. 5 Comfo .10 rt: Se e Pg. Pool: 11 See Pg .6 Outd oor Li ghtin g: See Pg. 9 Pg. 7 Windo w Cove rings Hom : See Pg e Oakville Town Centre I, (QEW at Dorval) 905-338-0602 We co mpile d a lis local t of exper ts tha you ho t offer me im ideas, prove furnishi ment ngs a advice nd des for ev ign er y ro om Mon.-Sat. 11am-9pm Sun. 12pm-9pm Home Alarm Systems Call Chubb First N O RT H A M E R I C A' S M O S T AWA R D E D C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R 1-866-565-9351 A Metroland Publication Vol. 44 No. 83 "USING COMMUNICATION TO BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES" FRIDAY, JULY 14, 2006 60 Pages $1.00 (plus GST) Region eyes 3.7 per cent tax increase next year By Melanie Hennessey SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Leaping lizards! Chair makes late change to public school board's capital budget By Tim Whitnell SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER A tax increase that could be quite similar to this year's is on the horizon for Halton residents in 2007. Inside Artscene.............................26 Worship..............................31 Sports.................................32 Real Estate.........................36 Classified............................40 Full Delivery: Canadian Tire, Superstore, Food Basics, No Frills, Petcetera, Zellers Partial Delivery: Ashley Furniture, Sears, Bad Boy Furniture, Pharmassist, Smart Source, Price Chopper, Home Hardware, Longo's, Sobeys, Pharma Plus, Fortino's, Stoney Creek Furniture, Goeman's Appliances, Best Buy, Shoppers Drug Mart, Home Depot, The Barn, Dominion, Future Shop, Union Energy, SYLC (Support Your Local Carrier) DELIVERY For home delivery & customer service call 905-845-9742 Mon., Tues., & Thurs. 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., Wed. & Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. or Saturday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. For new subscriptions, call 905-845-9742 or subscribe online @ www.oakvillebeaver.com Region staff is forecasting a possible 3.7 per cent hike for next year, or an extra $45 for the average homeowner based on a $300,000 assessment -- up slightly from the 3.6 per cent increase approved for 2006. The numbers went before regional council Wednesday and were also presented to the Region's budget review committee Monday, where Director of Financial Planning and Budgets Mark Scinocca explained the details. He highlighted the items that are driving taxes up, including an additional $3.7 million needed for staff compensation, $6.4 million for the Best Start childcare program, $1.5 million for GTA pooling and $1 million for waste management operations. The committee also learned that funding the Region recently received from the Province, which lowered the ultimate 2006 RON KUZYK / OAKVILLE BEAVER See Road page 5 TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: Eric Birse had a close encounter with Spike, the Bearded Dragon, during a visit by Reptile Party Inc. at the VON Alzheimer Services Day Program at the Sheridan Elder Research Centre (SERC) at Sheridan College on Tuesday. The Halton District School Board passed its operating and capital budgets for 2006-07 with relative ease, but an unexpected demand by the board's chair to make an amendment to the previously approved Capital Strategic Plan led to some lengthy and, occasionally, rancorous debate before its acceptance. Eight of the 11 school board trustees were present for the special meeting on Monday and unanimously accepted board staff's recommendation of a $359.4 million operating budget and $21.4 million capital projects budget for a total budget for the next school year of $380.8 million. This represents a $22.1-million-increase over the 2005-06 total budget. However, it was the insistence of board chair Paul Tate that his colleagues re-open the Capital Strategic Plan (CSP) and make a date change to a project for a Milton elementary school that dominated the special board meeting. The Milton trustee said parents either had been misinformed or misled on the issue of an addition of a 10classroom porta-pak to Hawthorne Village Public School. A steaming Tate said it was his understanding that the five-year CSP he and the rest of the board passed last week would enable the crowded JKGrade 7 school in Milton to get not only 12 individual portable classrooms, but the separate porta-pak as soon as See Board page 4 INTRODUCING FORD FAMILY PRICING. NOW BEING PART OF OUR FAMILY MEANS YOU GET THE BEST PRICES OF THE YEAR. PERIOD. ON 2007 AND REMAINING 2006's. See dealer for details. 905.845.1646 www.kennedyford.ca SOUTH SERVICE ROAD WEST