Vol. 12,9 No.- 50 - Wedlnesday, Deember 22, 1982- 32 Pages Deek the-, lodge .with, Christmas, music The debut performance of Fairview Lodge residents' choir brought fine music and Christmas, cheer to the lodge last Wednesday. Above, 79-year-old Christina Fraser sings a solo verse whlle co-ordinator Julie Moore provides a littie moral support. The choir was organized by Dorothy Bonham of Whitby, and gave another per- formance at Sunnycrest Nursing Home Thursday.- Free Press Staff Photo Coimeil Last week's pre- Christmas budget holds good news for Whitby taxpayers, who will pay an average of four per cent more for municipal services in 1983. The budget, which still needs officiai ap- proval by council, was discussed at two public meetings last week, marking the first time Whitby town council has prepared a preliminary report before the start of the new year.« The early start is ex- pected to reducethe amount of -borrowing necessary because most says Mer revenues will be collect- ed early in the year. Taxpayers who live north of Taunton Road will find an $11.50 in- crease in their tax bill this year, 'and people living south of Taunton Road wil pay $14.50 more for municipal ser- vices. The $12.8 million bud- get, up from $12.2 in 1982, can be considered a restraint budget, with expenditures kept with- in the provincial govern- ment's ive per cent guidelines.. This means the total tax bill for rural resi- ery Christmas witli dents will be $3W.50, and for town residents, $M4. These bills do not include regional or school board taxes, which should be deter- mined early in 1983. -Nearly three quarters of the total budget wil be spent on operating costs, with .only one quarter set aside for capital building projects in 1983., While most -depart- ments and -mnunicipally funded services receiv- ed small budget increas- es,ý two organizations had their budgets slash- ed by.town council. Whitby Arts and the Whitby Historical Society will have to trim their operations to get by with less help from the town this year. The Whitby Historical Society had its budget cut from $17,000 to $8,000, and Whitby Arts will operate on $5,00 less than it had hoped.. The arts organization, which operates the Sta- tion Gallery on Victoria St., asked the town for $15,000, but were only awarded $10,000. Coun- cil rationalized the ceut -6y saying Whitby Arts must learn to operate Lbudget with fewer deficits. Other highligbts of the budget discussions in- cluded the presentation of a petition with 2,000 names to have a third ice rink built, in Wbitby. The petition, which was circulated by the Brooklin-Whitby NMinor Hockey Association, pointed to the scarcity of ice time and the im- possibility of the league expanding with only two rinks (Iroquol 1s Park in Whitby, and Luther Vipond Memorial Arena in Brooklin). See Budget, page 2. > IR E-S S, IF 17 '7