The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

i : & SPE ae I RE Ca Volume 134 Number 22 TR ewspaper of Choy, 4 bE , APRIL 18, 2000 Four! Council whittles 2000 budget to 4% increase By John B. McClelland Port Perry Star Property taxes may have to be increased slightly this year to give Scugog council sufficient funds to pay for necessary municipal projects. That was the feeling expressed "Monday by Scugog finance committee chairman Ken Gadsden after review of a staff report that shows the 2000 local bud- get requiring a 4.38 per cent increase in the levy. That's a slight improvement over the budget status of two weeks ago, when it translated into a 4.9 per cent tax increase. In an interview after Monday morn- ing's committee meeting, Councillor Gadsden said he personally feels that if it comes down to a decision on whether to increase taxes slightly or "look after the roads (department) budget," he will vote in favour of the roads. He said the goal for his committee remains to bring in a local budget that does not increase taxes at all; but that just may not be possible. Councillor Gadsden said he can live with an increase locally of up to 4 per cent, rather than cutting work on the roads that must be done this year In fact, the committee chair said coun- cil's parsimonious ways in the past may be coming back to haunt them. "Some of the economies we made in the past are hurting us now," he said. The committee expects to have one more meeting for a final review before putting its stamp of approval on the local budget for 2000. Councillor Gadsden said he hopes the budget will be approved by the end of this month. That timetable could depend on how much money Durham wants from Scugog ratepayers for regional spending, and how much the province demands for Please turn to page 21 bys: COPY 15¢ (70¢ + 5¢ GST) 32 Pages 7 on Port Perry's fi ag office to § \ th ik 5 4 LIES gs "JEFF MITCHELUPORT PERRY STAR A LITTLE MULCH GOES A LONGWAY: Whitney Colicon. was among the volunteers out at the Port Perry fairgrounds Saturday morning, help- or oe e BEET EER ing to plant 64 new ash and | trees on the gr the trees were four purchased by Mary Carey, of Burlington, who Ame them plant- ed in memory of her father, Morris Baker. The fair board has been making numerous improvements to the grounds. close doors Thursday By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star The wait is over for employees at Port Perry's agriculture office: They've been informed that operations there will cease Thursday. The closure of the Vanedward Dr. office, a long-time resource centre and meeting place for numerous agricultural agencies and clubs, is part of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' (OMAFRA) plan to close field offices and centralize operations across the province. The move to less outreach and more research affects 32 field offices like Port Perry's, They've been replaced by 13 resource centres, which will focus on the development of leading-edge informa- tion for the agriculture industry. This area's resource centre will be located in Lindsay. Please turn to page 21 Star's Nutty Easter Egg Hunt's Sunday The Easter Bunny will make his annual trip to town this weekend, when the 12th annual Free Giant Easter Egg Hunt is held Sunday. Sponsored by The Port Perry Star and The Nutty Chocolatier, children between the ages of three to seven are invited out to Queen St. in down- town Port Perry on April 23 to take part in the event, which sees the kids collect coloured eggs and turn them in to officials for prizes and goodies. The egg hunt will begin at noon, rain or shine, with the Easter Bunny arriving shortly before for a meet and greet with all the kids.