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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7,1982, WHITBY FREE PRESSr Published every Wednesday FS"'whitby. Volce of th eCounty Town Michael Ian Burgess, Publîsher - Managing Edîtorj lTe only Wbltby newspaper Independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. by M.B.M. Publishlng and Photography Inc. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building, 1I31 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Wh.itby, Ont. MICHAEL J. KNELL Communlty Editor MARJORIE A. BURGESS Advertising Manager Second Class Mail Registration No. 5351 The Durlham Boùa rd of Education has failed(ain to jýust ify its$12.5 million spendingrequitrements It seemsé that at this time every year, this publi- cation* chastizes the Durham Board of'Education over its budget and Its budgetary procedures. Weili, this year is no different. On page 2 of today's edition, we reported that the avera ge. residential taxpayer ln the Town of Whltby would pay $1,084.55 ln property taxes this year - an $86.18 increase over 1981. We also reportedthatlhe biggest chunk -of this tax bifi (49%),4$535.06 ta be exact, would goto the Durham Board of Education. The Region of Durham would receive $180O.49, anIncrease, of $7.34 over 1981 whlle the Tobwn of Whitby's share is $369, $16, more than last year. But, the board of education wiIl get"*,$62.84 more. This Publication has'reviewed the preiiminary budget document that was presented to the board last week, and we found that there w;ere a few items of 1Interest mlissl ng. For example, ln, their statement of revenues the y. make normention of the supplementary taxes the board earned in 1981 because àf assessment growth. lt' sbeen a great few days, at least in Southern Ontari. .My wife and I went to "On Golden Pond" on a recent Fni- day night, and that was a great start ta the vvekend. :We've reached the stage in our, own lives where older- couples holding hands, iteralîy or' figuratively, is a. great comrfort ta us. We were out in the country on Saturday and Sunday, and although it was overcast mnost of Saturday where m were, it cleared'Saturday night and the stars were brîlliant. Bright sunlight flaaded the bedroom-Sun- day morning and wovke us early. Our oid cat, who nests on my wvife and who 1 ikes ta sleep as late as any of us, was up first. He sensed something before m did. He prowled im- patientlyT,îquawking the occasional protest,.as he waited for me tà finish dressing. As soan as I 'd tîed my shoes, he headed for the stairs. He's fourteen. years old, which translates into about 98 in human terms, and although he's still capable of a good turn of speed, his aid bones are a bit stiff in the morning. i had to go slowiy behind hlm as he creaked his way down the stairs. He mAent straight out on the deck and spent most af the mnorning there. There's a littie corner af the deck where the sun beats in and which is out of the prevaiiing ind, and wMen it warm-ed up a bit, that's wvhere he stayed, bîissful. I watched hlm from time ta time. He'd doze for a while, soaking up the heat of the suni, and thon, still drowsing, his eyes haif shut, he'd lift his greying muzzle and sniff the air. He's a hopelessîy domesticated animai after 14 years with us, but when he 1ifts his head and uses his nase fora whiîle, I thi nk he has a better idea of what's going on in aur vicinity than I vvouîd if I spent haîf an hour Iaoking around with'the binoculars. And he knew there was Spring in the air, even before he got downstairs. That's why ho was in such a hurry. At 98, you dan't know how many Springs you've gat Ieft, and you don't want ta miss any. Nothing like advancing age ta sharpen the mind, and establish the true priorities. That'ls not newsl, but that tao is reahlity. This money (at least at the local and regional levels) is always sho'wn on the following year's budget and is used to help soften the Impact of tax levy requirements. Information provlded to' us states that the Town of Whitby forwarded over $208,000 in supple- mentary taxes to the Board of Education last year. Yet, no where in the budget -document prepared by the board's staff do we see any figures presen- ted for these extra tax revenues. If this municipaîityhad $ 208,000 plus in squpple- mentary board taxes, we wouîd like to know what it got from the other six municipalities in the board's Jurisdiction. Unconflrmed estimates show the'board raised $3.4 mil lion ln supplementary taxes last year. Another interesting Item is that the board budget' document doesý not appear to make allow- ances for assessment growth. Whitby had, the second largest growth rate in Durham in 1981 at 5.8 per cent. In both the town's and the region's budget, alowance is made ln the tax bi 1 for this growth. In other words, because -the town's tax base is larger, the in'crase suf fered by .each ýtaxpayer- is' lesseneoi-andi their budget proces s .shows this àbi ârount ~For example, the région .would have îevied a 10.8 per cent tax increase on Whitby resi- Wdents had the town not had a 5.8 per cent assessment growth: Because of our grawth, the tax increase was, only 4.5 per cent. In the board's budget estimates, they are pre- dicting a 13.31 per cent tax increase on Whitby residents. Is this before or after the 5.8 per cent growth rate is taken intà account?. If it is after the growth rate is taken into ac- count, then Whtiby residents could have faced a 19.11 percent i ncrease. If before, then we should only be paying a 7.51' per cent tax i ncrease., But, if that 5.8 per cent Is 1in- cluded in the increase, thenwe wouîd like to know where and how It s included. It is our contention that the. board has flot properly demonstrated the way in which it arrives at the tax levy increase. When the ýboard is proposing ta, spend $125,190,350'in 1982 with net tax requirements of $59,188,888 we would like to know - co 'mpletely, and fully - how this figure was arived at. It is bad enough that the board's spending will increase by 1.5.91 per cent this year and that the overaîl tax increase will be 13.5,per cent.- It should also be acknowledged .that the board doe s have .some budgetary- problems tfhat are beyond its control. According to its figures, the provincial government's share of'the'cost of edu- cation In the region Is decreasing. This year, the provincial government's'contri-' butiontowards the cost of elementary school ser- vices will be 50.93 per cent, a decrease of 3.33 per cent over 1981. In the seconýdar'-sch'ool block, the ,:gaver- nment's share has dropped by 3-.61- per cent to 50.23 per cent. >Howeverjn our view, this makes it aIl the'more important for the board ta demanstrate how it' arrives at its tax increasesince it will be required to raise more revenue directly from the taxpayer. It is aur belief that mpst taxpayers accept the, rising cost of education and the necessities for it. However, this does not mean that the' Durham Board of Education should. not be compelled ta demonstrate exactly how they 'arrived at their $62.84e tax increase on the average Whitby tax- payer. - p~15 4un ~ *qy - RA34/7~~P ~ 607A ~ c~C~j~ r/7~A~-7J YO1/9~/