Pagea 2, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, February 8, 1995 I PEDRO'S FORT UNI 1 N A N C 1A L Budget chief mum on possible zero tacx. increase 'threepeat' By Mike Kowalsld Whitby residents should soon know if they can expect te, see a 'threepeat' in the Town's portion of their property taxes. The municipality's 1995 budget will likely be brought - i ~ ~ .',.- iVi c~r~ th e «ght rnove. Invest Wt Are you having a challenging trne cieciding wtîich equity fund is night for you? Are you conoemned about rising interest rates and whether or flot you should be in a bond fund at this Urne? Have you considered rnoving some of your investments outside Canada? Puty*r *ststatgy n le T DY ycal- J-fDuga F1 N A N C1 A LE fryifur COMPANIES Jeff Douglas is aproudsponsor WÎId Cats Over 10Oyeais investment experience dealing in GICs, GoV't Bonds & Mutuas A WINNING (OMBO FOR YOUR RRSP Basc.....::.. . 728 ANDERSON ST.666.)m8788 (AT MANNING) forward in early March, council- lor Don Mitchell said Friday. Mitchell, Town council's finance chair, said he intends to announce the date for the budget debate at next week's council meeting. However, Mitchell was tight- lipped about whether this year's budget will be as easy on rate- payers' wallets as the previous t wo budges (Whitby's. 199,3 budget con- tained no tax increase, while last year's combined $33.4-million operating and capital budgets actually reduced taxes by an average of 1.2 per cent.) ,"rd Ju!st as soon wait and see," said Mitchell. "We're stili rollingâ it around te see what we can do and what we'd like te do. Council doesn't even have a draft budget in its banda y et.» Mitchell's commenta followed two daLys of meetings between council and Town departmient heads held at the Whitby Hydro- Electric Commission offce last week. Mitchell did not know exactly why that locale was used, but assumed it was te, prevent inter- ruptions by staff with urgent messages for their superiors. Preferring not te eall the meet- ings "budget discussions» in the true meaning of the term, Mit- chell said the sessions were more of an "overview" of the various Town departmients. But he conceded that budget matters were discussed -- staff indicated «Where their depart- ments are, oing and what they would lie. While declining to speculate on the final figureBs, icel1 did say We Watch,' The system that provides... " Unscheduled home visits ensure quality care for your child " Fully trained providers receive ongoîng Agency support " Reliable local back-up covers Provider illness or holidays "Complete insurance coverage " Income tax receipts Oidren six weeks and up " Full or part-time For more Information oeil: 686-399!5 a icensed Agency FROM "WORLD'S BEST SELLING CAR"I of ALL the homes and/or Ntoa ako o slete aea onyoel heCanada .o sleced aeasonly Sl the(seecte hoes)ROTARY (A$H CALENDAR$ ress - 668-6111. (eetdhms iich is isted for full distribution, NieB tr iscl.(selected homes) A9$12 8405 ATTENTION RENTERS! GREAT LOCATION! PARK SETTING! VWfth apprxîately $5,000.00 deposit, Spaclous sidespIit in N.W. Oshawa, At a pnoe you oa afford. Lovety 3+1 bedroora this 4 erom, 2 bathroom home with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, homne nexi to the park where the kis a play. finished rec. roomn cardes like rent for newer gas furnace & central air. Large eat-in kitchen wth walkout close f0 sdiocfs $867.00 a month. Cail for more details. A great buy for $1 37,500.00 and reduced to $143,9W.00. CALL ROSEMARV BROWN 4322 Power locks, tinted glass, dual mirrors, advanced safety systemn, and much more. Freight, PDI,& taxes extra. O.A.C. OWASCO ( VOwJJIifljç;e 1972. An »I CARE* and CAA award winner. 1425 Dundas St. East, Whitby that this year's budget procedure will be different from that fol- lowed in the p ast. Copies of the proposed budqet will be available one week prior te the budget meeting and tbere will be an opportunity for public inp~ut, Mitchell said. 'It certa.inly will be the moat open procedure yet,"» he said. Councillor Gerry Emm for one was quick te commencf Mit- cheh for initiating this change. "We will be doirig the budget like Iwant,in'a p ublic forum te allow for comment » said Emm. «]Tm pleased with the budget chief for doing it this way.» Emm described last week's meetings as an "informative and useful exercise. "It brought me up te date on what's happened tL past six years while I was out (off coun- cil) and it's somewhat alarming,» he said. "The Town is struggling, there's not a lot of money there. Emm noted that Whitby resi- dents are still paân the bills for the Rosslanda recreation complex and the public works department's operations centre. Meanwhile, Whitby's "actual growth» je not as great as it once was, Emm said. UWeve slowed down te around three per cent,» he said. «We re not attracting indus- trial and commercial growth at the rate that could put us in a rosy situation. "There's no doubt Whitby is in a better position than a lot of municipalities; but we do have problems.» Emm said it will reqpire "major effort» te hold theun-e on taxes, but that council bas little choice. "One in every 10 bouses is not k" mng up with their taxes," he «I don't want te, increase'costs and I think gnerally council has the sanie feingsr.» Newly-elected centre ward councillor Shirley Scott also found the meetings «very infor- mative.' But Scott dedlined to comment on the &rounds that she did not know wat she is permitted te diseuse.1 w 0 w (n o m 1 r îr