P.AGE 4, WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 1978, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby s Voice of. the Cou nty Town Michael lar The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and d'perate ÎERVING OVER 28#.000 READERS g Publislied every Wednesdayi * by M.B.M. Publishing Phone 668-6111Il The Free Press Building, "Burgess, Publisher:Ma naging Editor 131 Brock Street North, ed by Wliitby residents for Whitbu r~iAnn*~, PO. Box 206. Whitby, Ont. Whitby Chamber of Commerce Community Editor -Br en WInter. Contri(iting Editor -JMm Qual Production Manager -Marie Burgest Print & Promotona, Manager -Robin LyoP Classif ied Ad Manager -_S. va Deeler Circulation Manager, '--Fian Ly6~ Mailing Permit No. 460 Member of the: Better Business Bureau of Toronto Mot he r thanks Whitby fire fighters for help to her, injured. child DerSir, My wife and 1 would very much like to thank the three Fire- men who gave our daughter such splendid help to make her com- fortable and dress her knee before the ambulance arrived, when she felI and hurt her knee which requir- ed a lot of stitches. It happenedso quick- ly right in front of the Fire Station in Whitby last Thursday. The three Firemen happen- ed to be working on the Fire Engine which stood on the forefront of the Station, and they rushed straight to her aid with a blanket to sit on. They I ifted her s0 gently and brought a box of dressings and bandage to use on the knee until the ambu- lance arrived. 1 thanked them then with a choked whisper for the splendid aid they had given her. Nothing seemed too much for them to do and now again we both thank themn from the bottomi of our hearts for the help they gave.- We also want to thank the young gentleman who of fered to take her down to the Hospital in h is car. -When the ambulance arrived he just drove away and I' did not have the chance to thank him. But when you fimd people like that so willing to help, it's still a Wonderful World and we hope it. is not too inconvenient for your Free Press to publish our thanks and appreciation for the kindness shown. Mr and Mrs H. Dawson Green Street I 'eJAW' '78*1- 5W 0B/& PEXllt '90/4&7wKW/ý'?4'//%iQ THE PROPERTy TAX As promised in my March Newsletter, this is the first o! a series of seven articles on property tax reform in the Province of Ontario. Even though reform measures have 00W been postponed indefinitely, I believe it is stili appropriate that I provide my constituents with an explanation of this complex issue. The general concensus of ail parties in the Ontario Legisiature, as weli as representatives fromn local govern- ment, is that if local needs are to be financed through the property tax, then the present system needs reform. Perhaps the most recognized features of the property tax are lihat it is certain and it is unpopular. Also, it is at present the îAily major direct tax zâource' available to Ontario's local governments. If such governments are to remain strong, they must be able to produce the necessary dollars to meet the deinands of their individual communities, because without financial responsibility there is no authority. And it is very important that the municipality does remain a strong level of government, because the municipal council is the most easily accessible place where citizens can approach an elected body dîrectly to present a point of view or request a service. If activities and incomes were the same everywhere in the Province, and if ail residents had the same tastes and preferences, there might not bea need for local governments. But the people across Ontario do want different things. for their communities, and thie property tax is a means of providing lo'cal governments with the necessary money to meet the unique demands 'of the local residents. Over the years, there has been a great deal o! deiate about the best means of raising money to finance local goverfiment needs, for example through an income tax, a wealth tax or a sales tax. Ail 0f the various theories do have menît, but they also have fiaws. I would like to briefly highlight only the flaws of the threc mentioned examples ai this point. Income Tax: Use of the income tax to offset, or eliminate, the property tax in the financing o! local government expenditure may initially sound good but fliere are several dîfficulties with this met hod. Firsi or ail, il could not bc administered locally hecüause o! the IJ0 plus municipalities in Ontario, some 5mK have populations of less than 2,iX) Mmu. Te small communities could nfot afford Io hire staff with suffiie-ni competence toadminister the comPlex systern. To collüt such .ýxCS in conjunction with thie fedcral income tdx would ,emndoslyinerpase fthc lederal hurteautriuey. T11wrn-., m ould be that more of the actual tax dollars-presently coliected 11 tîrugh the property tax would be used for» the mechanics of c -olecting and distributing taxes. Thus fewer of the same 00c>lars would be available for providing the necessary local sivls.As well, many property owners in Ontario do flotlive or work in the community where they own property. Should'the tax relate to where you live or where you work? At the present ime, even our most sophisticated computer cannot be programmed to deal equitably with the distribution of the income tax whcn a taxpayer owns property in a community where he does not live or vw1ork. Wealth Tax: This is a levy imposed upon individuals on the basis of their flot personal wealth, that is the total value of al assets including cash, bank deposits, securities, real property, jewellery and the like, less debts or other dlaims outstanding against them. This type of tax is used in 14 countries throughout the world, partîcularly in those countries with a high concentration of wealth such as India and Pakistan. One of its weaknesses is how to place a value on many of the items, such as sriall business holdings or jewellery. But the main argument against such a system is discovery. There is no registered title or eternal indication of exitence for' cash, jcwellery or non-registered bonds. Much of the potential revenue here would be lost unless aIl propierty were discovered andi vaiued with equal effectiveness. Retail Sales Tax: The obvious disadvantages to raising local revenues through a retail sales tax is first, if aIl local governments did not impose the tax, the results would be disasterous to those that did because people would simply shop ini the nearest town that did not have a sales tax. And second, usually'one urban location is the commercial centre for a number of surrounding municipalities. As a resuit, dormitory suburb or agricultural municipalities would not get t h e lrndft of a large part of the tax collected on purchases made by its residents. Even if taxation was uniform and revenues pooled throughout entire urban areas, the problems, while reduced, are not eliminated. Many people believe that education should not be financed through the property tax. The reality of this is that only about 42% of the total education costs are met from the property tax. This is a provincial average, and varies greatly from municipality to municipality). The rest of the money is provided through transfer paymnents from other levels of government. At that, many people, especially senior citizens feel this is an unfair burden. I must point out that with the introduction of the Ontario Property Tax Credit plan in 1972, very few of the senior citiznes residing in Ontario contribute to the cost of education through propcrty taxes; As weli,, the basic tax credif to seniors will be enrichcd from $290 to $510 in conjunction with the implementation of property tax reformi. 1 would lx' pleascd to provide a complete outline of how this system works. upon requesi. Tix- undenýiable onse;quenlcti*ofrcrovîng all cosis of edciinfrom the property tax is that any thread of local goetrnmient conirol that doe-s exisi with rIec o cducal ion woul<l disappear. Authorify wilhoul any linancial resNponsilbil- ilv iwhtblly unreallitc. If the property tax system was flot in existence, we could perhaps develop a system that was theoretically perfect. But it mnust be recognized that the property tax has been in existence in its present form for many ears in Ontario. It is impossible to conipletely abandon the social and economic consequences produced by this system and create instant perfection. Some relief to the property owner can, should and is provided through provincial grants to local governments. I will be dealing with this subject in a subsequent column. In the ensuing weeks, I will be explaining why reform is i;.ecessary, and how the proposais for reform wili affect the residents of Durham west Riding. Durham YMCA odd Job. ernployment service does booming business "School doors have closed for the suinmer and students are free from the touls of homework, essays and pro- jects. Summer hoîidays mean cottages, camping and travelling for some whiie for others it means trying to find a job to make a little spending money or just (o keep (hem busy. The Durham Region Family YMCA's Odd Job Employ- ment Service lias been swamped with registrations. The number of ambitious hardworking students looking for employment, whether it be fultime, part ime or just a day at a time, is increasing everyday. The response from the public, especially house- holders was tremendous during thie months of May and .lune whetn spring dlean- ing was being done, gardens getting started and painting was needed. Students have also been a -great lielp to people who were moving within thl own and needed an extra pair of hands. Businesses have used tlie service te help them throughi a buay day. The YMCA would like to take this opportunity to thank ail o! these people for using the Odd Job Empioy- ment service and helping our students. Certainly n0W as many peole leave for vaca- tion students could be of assistance to many others, by taking away the worry of looking after your lawn and gardens whule you are away. Many Odd Job Employ- ment registrants are avail- able for babysitting while you are at work anîd your chîdren are home. And what about the old shed eut back that needs cleaning out? [Have you thought about having someoe walk yowr dog for you and perliaps water your plants? Berry season is here, and students could lend you a liand getting them picked, or maybe lielp you w it h other chores a round thie fa rm. There are many ways in which a student could give you a liand this summer. so give tlie Odd Job Employ.. nien1t Service al flie Durham Iteglon Vainily YMCA a cati f <idas - The telephone tiuiniber l is -amia ---- -ý ýj,%,ja&q 1 3 ýl