WHITBY FREE PR ESS, WE DN ESDAY, APRILt 1, 1)81, PAGE 3 No one seems to know for sure How much will education taxes rise? By MICHAEL KNELL Free Press Staff While shrouds of secrecy appear to surround the Durham Board of Education budget discussions, sources report that it will spend bet- ween 12 and 14 per cent more than it did last year. The impact on the Whitby resident taxpayer could also be higher than that. Unlike the Town of Whitby and the Region of Durham, the board of education does not release its preliminary budget estimates to the public. When asked why this was board chairman, Trustee Arthur Winter (Oshawa) said that it had been that way since before he was first elected to the board five years ago. "I really couldn't tell why that is," he said adding that releasing the budget infor- mation was "something that the (finance) committee should consider." However, Winter was quick to point out that 89 per cent of the board's budget is devoted to salaries and The Canadian Radio- Television and Telecom- munication Commission will consider allowing Bell Capada to offer cheaper long distance telephone rates in Whitby. East Ward Councillor Joe Drumm told Whitby Town Council last week that he had been told by Bell's district manager, Marline Veater, that the company has decided to include Whit- by in a pilot project to start later this year in nine On- tario municipalities. wages and the remaining 10 per cent was all that the board could really control. The former school prin- cipal said that the board was still looking at the budget and that the bottom line of impact on the taxpayers had yet to be reached. "I couldn't give you the figures on the increases," Winter said. However, he did indicate that the board was not plan- ning to introduce any new programs or hire additional staff except to replace those that resign or retire. When contacted to secure budget information, Jim Backus, the board's superin- tendent of business said that "I can't release any infor- mation at all." Backus said that while keeping the information private was not board policy, he did say that it was "board procedure" and that he had no "authority" to give out any pertinent in- formation. Whitby Trustee John Buchanan also could not give out any information on the potential impact. company had considered this plan, it did not meet with the criteria established by the CRTC. Drumm also informed council that he did not know when the CRTC would con- sider the matter. "I'm not at liberty to quote that at the moment," he said adding that the final budget document's presentation to the board is probably a mon- th away. Buchanan agreed with the 12 to 14 per cent increase saying that such a move would only be "maintaining what we've got." "I can't see it getting back below 12 per cent without cutting back on service," he said although he added "I'm not in favor of that kind of increase." "I can't see what we're getting for it," Buchanan said addressing the benefits of the increase to the Whitby taxpayer. "We're getting nothing and we're payifig for it." The rookie trustee said that Whitby will not receive any board capital im- provement or any new programs. When told that the Region of Durham's average tax in- crease was 14.9 per cent but that the impact on the Whit- by taxpayer was 17.1 per cent, Buchanan said that a "similar type of thing is happening to Whitby" with education taxes. He Dointed out that tax in- creases on properties of equal value in different municipalities in the region are not equal. Buchanan said that if a home assessed at $5,000 in Scugog paid $45 more in taxes, that same home in Whitby will suffer a $54 in- crease. "It should be equal across the region, but it's not," he said. Buchanan also pointed out that the board is under some degree of financial pressure. The grants that it received from the Ministry of Education are "less than 10 per cent" more than they werè last year, and don't meet the rate of inflation. The costs of textbooks have increased 130 per cent over the last three years and salary increases are up 12 per cent over last year. According to Winter there is a meeting to discuss at the board offices tonight, however, he indicated that it was not open to the public. BerADLEYMOTORS 841 DUNDAS. STREET WEST WHITBY 668-1542 Co ver Sale Joe Drumm The optional plan will allow subscribers to pur- chase a block of long distan- ce telephoning time at a discount and will take about one year to test. Council asked Veater in January to take up the possibility of including Whitby in the project with her superiors. Some residents of the town had been asking that Bell in- troduce free long distance dialing between Whitby and Toronto saying that the biggest part of their business was carried out on telephone lines to Toronto. At that time Veater infor- med council that Bell's rate would increase to $16.35 a month. up from the current $7.50 if that service was in- troduced. She said that while the RICHARDS FURNITURE REF1NISHING "Give Your Fumiture a Face Lft" 600 Euclid St., Whitby Cal Rick Forestall 666-2992 CRTC debates cheaper rates