OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, July 17, 2009 · 4 Carr grilled on e-mail Continued from page 3 Bring It Home! This summer, bring home your waste for proper recycling, composting, reuse, and disposal. Historically, as in other municipalities, property taxpayers have covered the cost of those exemptions. For the past few years, residential developers in Halton have agreed to pick up some of the costs, about $1,250 per sewer pipe. But in this year's budget, council approved moving all those costs onto residential developers in Milton and north Oakville, equating to a 5 per cent tax and water rate budget impact, according to MacCaskill. Asked why that savings wasn't passed on to taxpayers this year in the form of a tax reduction -- taxes for regional services increased 1.7 per cent and water rates 6.7 per cent -- Carr responded: "We used it for other programs." Mattamy didn't ask Wednesday for the charge to be returned to the tax base, but time for the company to consult with other developers to share the load. During the council session, Burlington Councillors John Taylor and Jack Dennison criticized the notion that what was being discussed was pushing that contribution charge back onto taxpayers -- a position that appears to have been spurred on by Carr. Yesterday, Carr defended an e-mail he had sent out in past weeks to Halton residents, also on the Region's official webpage www.halton.ca, stating either developers pay the charge, or taxpayers pay the charge or infrastructure doesn't go ahead: "The cost to Halton taxpayers, if the developers get their way is a 6.1 per cent increase on taxes and 6.1 per cent increase on water rates. I do not believe that existing taxpayers should be burdened with these costs," the letter states. Variances don't automatically result in tax hikes or decreases as council makes that decision during budget proceedings in December. Carr said the Region's treasurer had vetted his letter and denied it presupposed how council would vote on a budget matter. "They would have had to (raise taxes)," said Carr. "Otherwise they would have had to cut programs, and I'm certainly not in favour of cutting programs." Though party politics don't play out officially in municipalities, Carr's position as regional chair, like a mayor, is a primus inter pares first among equals position. "I'm one member selected by every member of Halton Region. At the end of the day, I'm only one vote but I'm going to be vocal," Carr said. PGA Tour Stars of Tomorrow ROXUL JANE ROGERS CHAMPIONSHIP Items for BlueBox Items for GreenCart Items for Garbage Items for Reuse Centre August 6th- 9th, 2009 Greystone Golf Club, Milton, Ontario Adult Admission is $10.00. Free admission for seniors, students and children. Visit our website www.janerogerschampionship.ca or www.cantour.com Tickets are available at the Greystone Pro Shop and Landmark Sport Group. p p p p k For more information contact Landmark Sport Group at 905-949-1910 ext. 226 170709