PAGýE 4, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 1986, WHITBY FREE PRESS w hitby ~ ~Published every We dnesday BILMOA by M.B.M. Publishing Communlity Editor and Photography Ine. f m mPhone 668~-61 Il VALERIE COWEN u u j e ~~~~The Free Press Building. deten aae 13 1 Brock Street North. Second Class mail Volce of the County Town Michael Ian Burgess, Publisher - Managing Editor 111.. Box .206, Whitby, Ont. Registration No. 5351 The only Whitby newspaper independently owncd and operatcd by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. Thmk about education tlis week- This week across Durham Region and the province It Is Education Week. This year's Education Week theme la "Ref inIng Our Gold," an InterestIng cholce of words consIdering the tact that the Durham Board of Education has just ap- proved a 1986 budget with an average Increase across the region of 9.8 percent. Durham's Separate School Board recently approved a 41 percent budget Increase for 1986. Hikes like these certainly raise a few eyebrows among taxpayers, particulariy when they are taken ln at a glance. Eylng the headlines or scannIng the radio dial tends to throw these figures Into a rather harsh li1ght and the f irst thing many taxpaà yers want to know 18 why these Increases can't be limited to the rate of Inflation. This editorial was not written to answer these questions, aibeit reasonable. Many of us would consIder ourselves fortunate If our salaries at least kept pace with Inflation and it Is natural to ask that our expenses not exceed that growth. Un- fortunately, ail too otten we are content to judge our circumstances on the basis of- those headlInes alone and headlInes neyer tell the whole story. The purpose of this edItorial is to point out that this Is Education Week and to suggest that this might be a perfect opportunity to stop In for a visIt at your nelghbourhood public or separate school. Rather than asking yourself why the cost of education continues to escalate, go out and get some answers. Many taxpayers have flot been back In a ciassroom since their own days as stud- ents and they might be surprised to learn that that ciassroom Isn't qulte what they remember It to be. The purpose of Education Week lB to open the doors of our sohools to the public so they can iearn what It 18 our students have been up to. If you have concerns about where exactiy your sohool tax dollars have been going, you have every right to stop ln and see for yourself. What getting an education these days se all about - and' why it costs s0 much money - are big questions, questions that can't be satlsfactorily answered ln one vIsit to a school open house - but it might get you thinking. OTTAWA.- One of the prices we pay for fine Spring weather Is that It not only brings on the crocuses but Revenue Canada. This year i have been carrying the burden of Richard Hatfleld's tax problems ln ad- dition to my own. Poor Richard was 80 much on my mind recently that i called a tax accountant to make sure that he was ln the trouble i thought he was. i was coy with the accountant, i admit. i sald to hlm, suppose i was caught with some marijuana ln my luggage, and i was charged wlth simple possession. Presumably, my employer wouid be alarmed about what a conviction would do to my Image, and would be anxlous to prove that 'd been charged unjustly. Just suppose they had paid legal tees of some $124,000 so that 1 would be defended adequately. i assume, i said, that Revenue Canada would regard $124,000 as a taxable benefit, and I would have to pay the usual horse-choking tax on it. Rlght, the accountant sa d, or words to that eff ect. There was a pregnant pause, and a meeting of minds. We both knew 1 was talking about the Premier of New Brunswick. Same thing for hlm, I suppose, I said, and the accountant agreed. What with a premier's salary, the size of the legal tees, surtaxes and s0 on, t appeared that Poor Richard would probably be hit with a tax bill of about sixty thousand dollars. 1 hung up the phone and fretted about IL. i was s0 frettul that i staggered laughing into the Bureau Chief's office to share this awful burden with hlm. He was worried about Poor Richard too. He was 80 worried that he laughed until the tears ran down his cheeks. We were brought Up short by a telephone cali from the accountant. Wait aminute, he said. Premier Hatfleld's legal bill was paid by the Conser- vatîve Party of New Brunswick, right? Right, i said. He Is not employed by the party, but by the gover- nment of New Brunswick, correct? i agreed. Then the legal bill, the accountant continued, was paid by a third party and it Is not a taxable benefit. Money from a third party, he explained, becà mes a gift, and pure gifts are not taxable. Weil, i can tell you, i was s0 relieved f or Poor Richard that i hung Up the telephone and klcked the office door, and I think my littie toe Is broken. Third party indeed. Regional councillor attacks hikes, To The Editor: ts. But I was disgusted! the budget". Bull!! cost money! Who is Durham Region Why? Now tell me how do asking for them? I Council has just ap- Quite simply. Ail you "cut" a budget that receive no phone calîs proved an operating levels of government is substantially over last from taxpayers asking budget of ap- know how to spend - and year? One that in- for them. No petitions proximately $160 how to rationalize that creases more than three are forthcoming. There million - a record which spending. Councillors times the rate of in- are no letters to the will no doubt be broken will stand up and defend flation! Ask the coun- editor. No delegations next year. This means the huge spending cillors! Sure they'll appear before counicil about a 10 percent program proposed by mouth the words of the demanding this and Region tax increase af- the bureaucrats. Coun- bureaucrats. We need that! ter a four percent in- cillors make feeble at- more staff, more ser- What Regional crease in assessment. tempts at trying to vices, new programs, Chairman Herrema and Almost ail of the 31 reduce the size of the ini- better roads, more Councillor Witty of Ajax councillors were proud crease and then they sewers, împroved social (Finance Chairnian) of their accomplishmen- proudly say they "eut services - and these aIl SEE PAGE 24