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& Pad MS Tull yh. tA a RY Ta , ; eg A el 2 ENN ll a. , bn} Ea AT A RAI SERRE, RGR v a AY 5) ETN RO IRR ry TE Lr RATA Sa § 2 nA pi RS " on PAROS Er N -- fy % dT A ~. -- ----- - » tn a PA OS Ste SS AC) - [AEA ELEN ant Ee Le - NERS SESSA (PAX PTO SAGES SAN S20 SE OY 1) , stent PEE CATR AF FR PUSH AVILES, BIRLA TH 0 The Tax Crunch Durham Region tax payers can thank the provincial government for any break they get on their Regional taxes in 1980. The picture in Scugog is generally pleasing. The effects of last week's Regional budget will mean an increase of just $6.21 on taxes for Regional purposes on an average house assessed at $3000. But it took a massive hand-out from the provin- cial government, to the tune of $623,000, to keep the increases at an acceptable level. That hand-out is a one-shot affair, and next year, there already are projections that say our Regional tax bite will go up by as much as 20 per cent, maybe more. Clearly, the Regional budget exercise which has been going on for over six weeks, is unacceptable, if all it does is delay the inevitable. The $693,000 in cuts in the budget passed last week by Regional council, are for the most part, transient, and much of this money will have to be put back in the budget next year. At the root of the uproar over taxes at the Regional level, is the implementation of the equa- lized factors, a complex formula which attempts to re-align property tax responsibilities with market values. It is fair to say that Regional councillors for the most part don't understand exactly why some municipalities are facing high tax increases under this new system, while others are facing much lower hikes. Even provincial government financial experts have not been able to explain why, for example, property owners in the town of Ajax, for example, are facing hikes of 20 per cent, while neighbours in Pickering are looking at an increase less than half that amount. But leaving aside the thorny and complicated issue of equalized factors, budget cuts, and provin- cial hand-outs, the bottom line is that municipal governments and school boards are spending too much money. It is boggling to imagine that in 1980, the total combined spending by Durham Region and the Board of Education will be in the neighbourhood of $180 million. If the spending continues at this rate, what will it be in five years, or even two years? Granted, only a small portion of that total amount comes directly from property taxes. A lot comes from fees for such things as water and sewer editorial poge VE) %, A charges paid directly by the user. And even more comes from the provincial government in the form of conditional and unconditional grants. While politicians can grapple with their budgets every year in an effort to keep the net impact on the taxpayer under ten per cent, it is obvious that the cost of government services at all levels is too high. Temporary measures are no longer enough. The day of reckoning over taxes has arrived. All levels of government must address this problem. And John Q. Public, the recipient of government services must be prepared to put the lid on his expectations. \ bill WHO WORE BLUE? Man, that's going to be some party, if it comes off. I'm referring to a massive reunion of airmen slated for Toronto next September. That's one I plan to take in, even if I have to lock my wife in the bathroom to get away. The occasion will mark the 40th anniver- sary of the Battle of Britain. Ninety-nine per cent of us were not in that particular affair, but it's a great excuse for a party. Everybodys 'who wore blue" is invited. That means i air and ground crews of Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the USA, who spent his war years in the air force blue of the allies, according to an official news release. Americans? Of course. Thousands of U.S. youths headed north and joined the RCAF before their own country was in the war. And some of them stayed in air force blue until the end, though they were given the opportunity to switch to the USAF when the Yanks got into it. But the list above would scratch only the smiley surface. The Royal Air Force contained the greatest potpourri of nations since the Foreign Legion was established. I wonder if all the others who fought on our side are invited. Poles, Norwegians, Belgians, Free French, Dutch, Czechs, West Indians, South Africans, Rhodesians. Maybe my old friend Shigh Thandi will be there. He's probably a general in the Indian Air Force by now. Or dead. Or my old sidekick Mohammed Ral. Who is likely a general in the Pakistani Air Force. Or dead. Will Nils Jorgenson make it from Oslo? He was a mate in prison camp, and feared he would be courtmartialled when the war ended. It's a long story, but he was shot down while on leave, quite an accomplish- ment. Will Don McGibbon make it all the way from Salisbury, Rhodesia, or has he been purged? We were on the same Typhoon wing, and were shot down within days of each other. These are the questions that a lot of ex-Air Force chaps must be asking them- selves. And the answers will probably be disappointing. I doubt if I'd fly to New Zealand for a reunion. Too much money. What would make the reunion a slam- dammer would be every nation with W.W.2 airmen sending them all free of cost to Toronto, on government aircraft. That would swell the ranks. But for too many, there will be too many obstacles: lack of money; sick or nagging wives; troubles with grandchildren; failing health. For those poor devils, I have some advice. Beg, borrow or steal the money. If your wife is sick, get a babysitter; she'll probably last till you get home. If she's a nag, tell her to stuff a sock in it, for once in your life. Forget your rotten grandchildren for a week; they appreciate nothing you're doing anyway. If your health isn't good, go to the reunion. You'll either die there, and your troubles are over, or you'll be so sick when you get home that your present failing health will seem petty stuff. Reunions are great for the ego. You go to one and see all these old, fat, bald- headed guys, and you marvel at how you kept your youth, strength and good looks, even though they are thinking the same when they see you. ' Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. No man who looks in the mirror while he is shaving has jowls or bleary eyes or a shiny pate. What he sees is a steely gaze, a firm jaw, and he doesn't let his eyes wander higher than his eyebrows. I've been to a few reunions over the years, and come home feeling and looking like a skeleton, but wondrously rejuvenated. A good smasheroo with a bunch of other guys allowed off the leash for a weekend, a mutual exchange of whoppers, a little senti- » J mentality about old So-and-So who brought ¥ it over the Channel: this kind of stuff puts your wife and kids and your dull civilian life into proper perspective. For a week or so you're a real fire-eater, issuing orders, refusing to do things you hate doing, and generally smartening everybody up to the fact that you were once young and brave and carefree, before you sink back into the cold bathwater of your regular life. Fighter pilots' reunions were the best andthe worst. They were fairly small, quite exclusive and the entertainment was great. But a reunion that begins with Bloody Mary's for breakfast can change a man, literally. Last time I came home from one of them, my wife met me at the bus. She walked right by me. Didn't know me. Thought I was some old chap who should be in a wheel chair. She was right, as usual. Well, this shindig in September will probably be the last chance saloon for many. As long as they don't invite the wives, it'll be OK. When they started doing that, I stopped going to reunions. There are four thousand hotel rooms put on hold for the event. If one twentieth of the air force vets turn up, it will be the greatest geriatric convention ever held in the world. A AT ada A OE A ----