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4- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday December 3, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com CLEARANCE BLOWOUT! Date: Friday December. 5th, 2008 Tourism and economic development departments escape budget cuts By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Don't Miss It ­ One Day Only SAVE ON ALL GENTLY USED CLOTHING AND TOYS From 8:30am - 5:30pm - Save 30% OFF From 5:30pm - 8:30pm Save 40% OFF From 8:30pm - 9:30pm Save 50% OFF SAVE 30% GENTLY USED EQUIPMENT ALL DAY ® Kid's Stuff with Previous ExperienceTM 801 Matheson Blvd. W. · 905-270-4679 2423 Trafalgar Road, Oakville · 905-257-5775 (South of Dundas in the Winners Plaza) NOTE: NO BUYS DAY OF SALE ALL SALES ARE FINAL www.ouaccanada.com Valid at participating store(s) only. Not valid with any other specials. Coupons or on previously purchased items. All sales final. DON'T MISS OUT! The Town of Oakville's tourism program and a position in the economic development department were spared the axe during a council meeting on Monday that saw the rest of the 2009 Budget Committee's recommendations adopted. The changes mean Oakville residents will receive a 3.88 per cent property tax increase with homeowners paying an extra $41 per $100,000 of assessment. The proposed reductions to the tourism program and the economic development department were two of the last service reductions recommended by committee, with the closure of outdoor pools, cuts to the Arts Council and Cultural grants and most reductions in library service taken off the table last week. The committee had recommended the tourism program lose $34,000 of its funding and also called for the economic development department to surrender $60,000, needed to staff a marketing and research position. Councillors were divided over whether this was the proper place to save money. "We need to be careful that we don't accidentally reduce service levels in two areas that are so critical to our municipality at this time in our economic cycle," said Ward 5 Councillor Jeff Knoll. "We need to be bringing money into town. The government is not going to solve the economic crisis. Local industry, for the most part, is going to solve this problem and they will be mitigating this locally by bringing in jobs." Knoll said businesses learn about a place by visiting it and because they are targeted by staff who know how to attract potential sources of investment. As such, he argued, making cuts to areas that could attract interest in Oakville does not make economic sense. "This is just like a sales organization. You can have the best widget in town, but if you can't get out there and market that widget people aren't going to know to buy it," said Knoll. "We have so much going for us here, but if we don't have the resources to go out and pitch that then we are going to actually be reducing service levels and really not singing our story here." Ward 6 Councillor and Budget Chair Tom Adams said that for the 2009 budget, around $560,000 had already been allocated to economic development. In the end, a vote on the cuts ended in a tie vote, which under Council's rules meant the proposed cuts were not accepted. Councillors also butted heads over a proposed $40,000 increase to the Town's newsletter budget. Ward 6 Councillor Max Khan defended the $40,000 increase, noting that raising the newsletter's distribution from twice a year to four times a year was a great way of keeping the public informed about what is happening in their ward. Ward 3 Councillor Mary Chapin pointed out that filling four newsletters a year with Town news would be a difficult task as the current newsletter is already using human-interest stories to take up space. Knoll noted that, statistically, increasing the newsletter's frequency does not make sense. "I'll draw to your attention our own Citizen Satisfaction Survey, which we conducted, and it actually asked people the ways they wanted us to communicate with them," said Knoll."Newsletters came second last on that issue and what came way above that was the Town's website and online newsletters." Ward 5 Councillor Marc Grant and Ward 3 Councillor Keith Bird joined Chapin and Knoll in opposing the newsletter, but were outvoted with the $40,000 increase passing. For more information on the 2009 Budget visit www.oakville.ca. WIN Entrep of the Have healthy meals ready for the Holidays by booking a session with SupperWorks. We do the preparation while you assemble nutritious dinners in our relaxed and social environment. All for under $5 a serving. 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