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I / 2 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, February 29,1984 SMALL TALK By Donna Fairey Library's Grant Held to Five Percent Dawn broke Tuesday, bringing two surprises - the worst snowstorm this winter and a Town of Newcastle budget representing a zero per cent increase in 1984 municipal taxes. Removing the deluge of snow gave me chronic curvature of the spine. Word of the town's no - nonsense budget gave me a migraine. migraine. The crunch is this: Newcastle council's bare-bones budget is a hard act to follow. Local ratepayers should be elated with the spartan town budget that dictates a status quo property tax levy. And it will be an understandable reaction reaction if the public expects expects Durham Region and the Northumberland Northumberland and Newcastle School Board to follow suit. What the Region does with its budget is no concern of mine until it impacts on my tax bill. On the other hand, the school board's 1984 financial financial blueprint is. As a member of the board's operations and finance committee, it would seem to me that any plan to match Newcastle's Newcastle's 1984 budget performance is totally impossible. If this was a telephone telephone conversation, I would ask that you resist resist hanging up the receiver receiver until you've heard me out. While certain members of the board are strong proponents proponents of restrained spending, there are seemingly immovable factors which influence the final budget outcome. outcome. One of the chief issues issues is this: The board's budget, unlike the region's region's and municipality's, municipality's, is extremely labor intensive. In fact, more than three quarters of a nearly $60 million budget is expended in salaries alone. The largest majority from this slice of the budget is teacher salaries. The board is then left with the remainder - a small amount com,- pared to the total - with which to provide education education in this jurisdiction, jurisdiction, an area that runs from the Oshawa town line, east to nearly Trenton and north to beyond Campbellford. But once it became ap parent that the "fat" times were really over, school boards slowly began a painful process toward revised spending. spending. Cutbacks which have been made, however, however, have not satisfied taxpayers and boards of education have suffered suffered a dramatic decline decline in public opinion. While costs and salaries have risen out- landishly, the provincial provincial government has markedly reduced education education funding to individual individual boards. Bill 82 was passed, and although although the government has provided funds to help with its implementation, implementation, no money was allocated allocated to assist boards with the capital expenditures expenditures needed to make structural changes to schools to accommodate accommodate handicapped students. students. In my view, not too far down the road, the government government intends to back out of the Bill 82 picture altogether, dumping the related expenses into the laps of Ontario school boards. With nowhere else to turn for funding, again boards will be forced to tap the taxpayer taxpayer in order to comply comply with provincial legislation. Where, then, does a board look to make cuts? A popular public suggestion focuses on the submission that a number of overpaid administrative administrative heads should be told to hit the road. However, viewing comparison charts showing other boards in the province, the N-N board's administrative network is neither overpaid nor overstaffed. overstaffed. If we want quality education for our children, children, then it's incumbent incumbent upon us to employ qualified people to provide provide it. The budget committee committee is currently grappling grappling with the money situation situation which gets tighter every year. N-N Administration Administration has been asked to trim $1 mil lion from the 1984 preliminary preliminary budget in order to achieve a five per cent increase. Too, one might ask for what period a board can operate operate on a skeleton budget before serious ramifications occur. Sooner or later schools must be painted, repaired repaired and maintained. Text books, films, and supplies, for instance, won't last forever. The inevitable is unavoidable. unavoidable. Quite simply, boards are caught between the province and the local taxpayer. The Ministry of Education is busy tightening its purse strings. Conversely, there's public outcry when certain cutback suggestions are made. People don't want their community schools closed. I understand and support this concept. concept. A large number of parents demand a comprehensive comprehensive French Immersion Immersion program. Transportation is a costly service which the public wants improved rather than diminished. diminished. The suggested cost saving measure of implementing implementing alternate full day kindergarten suffered an unparallelled public public battering. What bothers me more than not being able to match Newcastle's Newcastle's zero per budget increase, increase, is the trend in provincial government toward a crafty shift of financial responsibilities responsibilities to boards and local government. Unfortunately, Unfortunately, it's also happening in sectors, other than education. The situation is like a particularly well done intrigue novel. Sometimes Sometimes it's difficult to identify the bad guy. The Town of Newcastle's library system will have to survive on approximately approximately $35,000 less than expected expected because council is reluctant to increase grants to the Library Board by more than five per cent. Monday night, Councillor Diane Hamre introduced a resolution calling calling for an additional $15,000 to be added to the library budget from municipal funds. But the motion was defeated on a tie vote of 3-3, with Mayor Rickard, Councillor Hamre, and Councillor Taylor voting in favor of additional library funds. Councillors Hobbs, Woodyard, and Cowman were opposed. opposed. Councillor Marie Hubbard was absent when the vote was taken. The Town of Newcastle had agreed agreed to provide $280,000 to the library library this year but that amount was far below the $315,000 contribution requested by the library. Councillor Hamre said the Library Library Board needs the funds to meet unusual costs arising from the installation of the new heating system system and a reduction in provincial subsidies. Councillor Hamre added that the additional funds for the library would mean a 10.6 per cent increase in the amount of funding received from the town this year. She added that the money could be taken from one of the town's contingency accounts. accounts. "We were going to leave them in a position where theyjustcould not operate," she said. The Ward Three councillor noted that citizens do not wish to see library branches closed or a cutback in the level of services. Councillor Ivan Hobbs disagreed. He said the town requested everyone to stay within a five per cent increase in expenditure. "Here, we are asking for double," he said. "I am not willing to support further increases in anybody's budget," said Councillor Hobbs. Mayor Rickard said he supported Councillor Harare's resolution because because in budget discussions, he had agreed to provide up to $295,000 for the Library Board but the majority of council disagreed with him. One of the additional expenses faced by the library is a $5,000 increase increase due to the cost of maintaining maintaining the new heating system installed installed at the Bowmanville Library. The Town of Newcastle Library system has a total budget of $402,414 for 1984. Of that amount, provincial grants total only $68,858. That represents no increase over last year's financing. financing. Councillor Hamre said that even if the town had furnished an additional additional $15,000, the library would have been faced with the need to reduce over $14,000 from this year's expenditures. Pythbow Resolutions 2 FOR 1 LOW PRICE SALE She also noted that a market impact impact study on the effects of the Pythbow Mall on downtown Bowmanville Bowmanville notes that there is a need to realign merchandise for consumers consumers in the 12 to 24 age group and added that the study says if the third phase of the Bowmanville Mall cannot be built now, then the mall is a necessity at the present time. The Bowmanville regional councillor councillor reminded her colleagues that the mall will result in improved trunk sewer systems in south Bowmanville Bowmanville and these will stop dam From Page One age occurring in several homes -which have been flooded by raw sewage. Councillor Hubbard indicated after Monday's meeting that the development development has the support of consumers. consumers. "I feel that the people generally generally have demonstrated they want a mall," said Councillor Hubbard. Hubbard. The Durham Region is scheduled to vote today (Wednesday, February February 29) oVi a by-law to amend the Durham Official Plan and allow the mall to proceed. Tax Hike Chopped From Page One put the municipality in a good position position for the years to come." Councillor Hamre warned that the town faces heavy financial requirements requirements in the next two to three years and she added that a reduction reduction in the mill rate this year could jeopardize future stability in the tax rate. "If I turn around next year or the following year and take them (the taxpayers) a seven or eight per cent increase, I don't call that good financial financial planning," she said. . She warned that by failing to plan for the future, the town will return to the days prior to 1980 when it was faced with deficits. But Councillor Hobbs noted during during this week's budget proceedings that it is just as unacceptable for the town to have a half million dollars dollars more than it needs as to have a deficit of the same size. Newcastle Mayor Garnet Rickard said he supports a budget which holds the line on this year's mill rate and added that former Darlington Darlington Township had managed to produce a stable mill rate three years in a row before the Town of Newcastle was formed. Having endorsed a budget reduction reduction which would produce a mill rate increase of 0.1 per cent, Newcastle Newcastle council proceeded to remove another $10,000 from this year's expenditures. expenditures. Councillor Ann Cowman said that she wanted to see the town set a mill rate which is at or below zero. "Why are we sticking to a. 1 per cent increase? Why aren't we looking at a decrease?" she asked. She pointed out that the treasurer had revealed an additional $75,000 from News Briefs SENIOR BASEBALL DANCE -- at the Bowmanville Legion, Sat., March 17th, in support of Sr. Baseball team. Music by Doug Crough, tickets available from executive members. Everyone welcome. SAMARITANS --An item just came in stating that George Bowen, Joe Kclcmcn and Fred Griffin spent a good part of Tuesday afternoon pushing stuck cars out: of snow on the Base Line Road. At one point, cars were lined up from Liberty St. past the industrial area to the east. last year's surplus. "I'd like to see if there's any more kicking around," she said. And Newcastle council, in an obvious obvious cost-cutting mood, agreed with the sentiments expressed by Councillor Cowman. At first, Councillor Marie Hubbard Hubbard suggested that more funds could be removed from an amount set aside in the town's planning department department budget to oppose the Pythbow Mall development at the Ontario Municipal Board. Councillor Hubbard said opponents opponents such as the Bowmanville Mall and the Bowmanville Business Centre should bear the costs of taking taking the matter to the Ontario Municipal Municipal Board. "I don't think it's fair that the taxpayer taxpayer is going to be asked to put up the money to take Pythbow to the OMB," she said. However, most elected officials were unwilling to reduce the amount set aside in the planning budget for OMB hearings because the department will be defending a number of other matters before the Board, including a comprehensive comprehensive zoning by-law. Council finally settled on a resolution resolution from Councillor Cowman and Councillor Hobbs which trims $10,000 from the town's unclassified administration account and ensures ensures that the tax increase is below that of 1983. Treasurer Kathryn Campbell estimated estimated that the decrease will be approximately 0.1 per cent, compared compared to last year. She said the decrease will be less than one dollar for a home assessed at $3,000.