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BOWMANVILLE LIBRARY 1.1.07 163 Church Street Bowmanville, Ont. L1C 1P7 Volume 69, Number 14 $1.00 GST Included Wednesday April 5,2006 ■ HeU m 12$ m mu m m mm Reduction of GM taxes could've hit Clarington hard Wednesday's debate about 2008. . tax policy at Regional Council In a special meeting held was all about sending.the right on March 16, Oshawa council message. unanimously passed a resolu- When the debate was over, tion urging the Region to council voted by. a narrow eliminate the Large Industrial margin not to eliminate the Large Industrial Tax class this year, a move that would have cost Clarington residents an additional $19, on average on this year's tax bill, according to the Region's Finance Commissioner, Commissioner, Mr. have to bite the bullet, 11HOÙ1V11V1, 1YI1, J | ' Robert ciapp. lower that rate... today, to send a message to Detroit. " The change in policy was introduced by Oshawa councillors, councillors, in an effort to assist General Motors. Motors. General Motors representative, representative, Ms. --Oshawa Mayor John Grey Tax Class effective this year. Wheir Oshawa introduced this motion to the Region's " Finance Committee on March ~ 22nd, the motion was lost in a tie vote. Oshawa Councillor B r i a n Nicholson introduced the same mo-tion at Wednesday's Wednesday's Regional Council meeting, meeting, where all the Oshawa councillors spoke passionately passionately about GM and its effect on the local ,econ-. Miriam Christie, Manager of : omy. "Loss in our auto'sector Corporate Affairs, GM effects enonnously, all proper- Canada, appeared before ty tax classes in the Region," council on Wednesday, ask- Nicholson stated. "I don't ing the Region to eliminate believe it is in the interest of the Large Industrial Tax rate our tax payers, that our tax this year. policy be, cross your fingers Region of Durham created and hope for the best." • a. large industrial taxation "I don't believe you want rate in the late 199.0's, to be the council that had the whereby they charged a high- opportunity to send the right er rate to industries operating message, but didn't," stated facilities of 125,000 square Nicholson, feet or more in size. The According to Oshawa's Region had been operating a Mayor John Grey,. GM shops phase out plan for this tax around within their family of rate, scheduled, to be com- production facilities, and all pleted by 2009. That plan factors get taken into consid- was later accelerated, to have eration when GM look to allo- the phase out completed in cate new product.' "That is why this decision is so important important to us today," he stated. We need to concentrate on the positive initiative we take today to make sure we, can be as competitive as possible,- to get product allocation to plant ' two." Grey went on to state, "On that basis, I believe we have to bite the bullet, lower that rate, not eventually, but today, and send a message to Detroit." Christie claimed hi her , presentation, that when the Oshawa team goes to Detroit this summer, pitching the Oshawa plant for a new product product line, they have to be as competitive as possible. Christie said they have to go with what they know today, not what is in the future. The fact that the Large Industrial GM seepages Fosterbrooke presents Petition See Page 3 Sarah Theberge had 11 inches cut off her hair on March 23rd for "Wigs 4 Kids". The seven year old Oronogirl decided to grow her hair for the charity when her best friend Emily, developed developed cancer. Municipality receives unexpected cash The $1,483,872 cheque Clarington received in the mail the other day was truly a "windfall," according to Municipal Treasurer, Ms. Nancy Taylor. The money was from the province, and is to be invested in municipal roads and bridges. The funds were announced in the 2006 provin- , cial budget, and were part of a one time investment of $400 million, to help municipalities primarily outside the GTA, invest in roads and bridges. Mr. Tony Cannella, Clarington's Director of Engineering said on Tuesday that he is still reviewing how the money can be used, and what projects currently in the system, can be moved forward with this money. While the province did not stipulate the money has to be spent this year, Taylor says in .situations like this, the Rinds should be allocated to projects approved this year. Cannella says he will be looking to spend the money to improve those roads which are in such a state that further deterioration would. make them extremely costly to repair. This money comes outside of the 2006 Clarington budget. More unexpected than the funding announcement that came in the mail, was the fact that the cheque was attached, says Taylor.