The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page 6, Whifby Free iress, We1dnesday, ctobdr M11996i The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby resîdents! MEMBER 0F: Canadien'Communîty Newspaper Assoctatton Ontario Community Newspaper Association Whltby Whitby Business Oshawa-uhmHm ChamberofCmmerce in Action Builders' Association The Whitby Free Press is distributed free to 99% of the homes in Whitby, Brooklin, Ashbum & Myrtie as well as numerous public and commercial outiets in Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. 28,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $36 + GSI - Outside Canada $85 + GSI ISSN#0844-398X Published every Wednesday by 677209 Onta'n'o Ic. 900'Hopkins St. /Box 206, Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-611il Fax: 668-0594, Doug Anderson - Publisher .Maurice Pifher - Editor Donald G. Hinton - Sales Manager Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% 4111 recycled content using vegetable based inks. ~ CAil written materiat, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the express permission of the newspaper is prohibited and' is a violation of Canadian copyright law. Reproduction for hOn-commercial distribution sfloutd bear a credit fie f0 the Whitby Free Press. Brokena To the editor: Copy of letter ta Education Mnister John Snobelen You have recently renewed your deceitful and unfounded attaclcs 'egalnst pUblic educelion ln Ontario. As ln the fa"s cisis you were caught creeling upon becoming minister of education, you are now repeatedly clalmîng that aur systein Is braken.u $1 0,500 raised at Fairview lest To th. edîtor: On behal aif Faluvew Lodge, we wouldId ke ta thank you once again for your support ai the seventh annuel Summer Festival on Aug. 24. Saine members ai the community know veîy Mti about seniors' homes. The ailvertislng provlded by the paper promotes the festival and the home in a very positive manner, which takes away the apprehension and encourages peope toparticipete ln, the We are pleesed ta report lite an estimated 3,500 people were ln attendance and praceeds for the day totaîled $10,500. The success ai the day b a joint effort ai many veuy dedicated and commtted lndMvduals. W. believe the Summer Festivai enrtches the Ives not only ai aur residents, but enchances the spirit ai aur commuity. Heather Tim, Debble Brown, co-chaîrs Festival Commit..e WllIlam Gerrow, Actlng Admnstator The utter folly ai your. acoesations Is becomlng clearer every day. The Durham, Boardaif Education has Just won the ý Internationally prestigl>us Bertelsmann Awerd for excellence and Innovation lni education, and three Ontaio schools (Exeter High School, Grenoble Public School and Humber Summit Mddle tcoo ere ail finalsts for the Canda Awards For Excellence offered by the National Qualty Institute of lndustry Canada. To make matters worse, you have flot ln any way acknawledged or even recognized these formidable achlevenents ln Ontario public education. Dalng saoeuld, of course, detract from your narrow political agenda of destroylng public education In* thîs great province. One lest question, Mr. Snobelen. Who Is the public ta belleve on such a critical issue - a poltcally-driven dropout, or netionally and internationally respected foundations for education? RkIlshigh lime the truth 18 heard in Ontario., Michael Strahl Courtice Help from Henry Tro 1he editor: thre-yer-od sn was fo ponsors for hîs Irs Terri Fax Run. We apprached ur neghbours, the students af Henry Street Hlgh SchooL Good neîghbours that they are, they came through with a generous donation. Hats off ta the student council acting on behaf aof the Henry - Street Hawks, and speciel thanks ta John Bolton, teacher and student -council aivisor, for setting the wheels in motion. Christine Lescîsin Whltby 'v Assessing the alternatives By Paul Pagnuelo Thanks to AI Leach, the Harris government's municipal affairs minister, atual value assessment (AVA) is about ta become the pravince-wlde standard ini Ontailo for property tax assessment But how doos this bureaucracy-civen solution ta Ontarlo's property tax mess measure Up taotcher alternatives that Harvts and his cabinet chose ta Ignore? Alternatives such as the toepayer-designed actuai price aýustion (APA) system, in Galfornia, In use since the late seventies,.when AVA sparked the Proposition- 13 tax revoit. Or the British Council Tax (BCT) which the U.K. government was forced ta, Introduce as a replacement ta Ils hlghly unpopular Pil tax. And unit assessment (UA) that lsrael adopted because Il wanted ta keep its assessment system simple. Aihough ail four models use verydifferent equlty standards, each ai them meet what they set out to do. Under AVA, ai properties wvith the saine current market value (Ontarla's propsaI wouki average values aoer a three-year period) have the saine assessment. In the U.K., the assessment Is the saine for ail properties falllng wlthln one of elght bands af 1991 market value. With UA, ail properties wih the saine physical dimensions have the saine assessment, whlle Californlas APA system lies assessinent ta the Le purch ase price of the property. In ternis ai stabllity, AVA ranks as the worst of ail four systeins, because the assessment changes annually ln lock-step wfth fluctuatlng market values. On the other hand, Callfomla's APA guarantees no change ln assessment until the property Is sold. With UA, the assessment remains stable unless there Is an add-on or reduction af the measured area. With Othe BCT, stabilty is as gond as the governmentsf promise that properties wilIlflot ho revalued. The lowest marks* fori understanding howq assessinents are arrlved has ta go ta AVA. Figuring out and appealing what'your property mouidbe wortji f Rsold on the open market today, is no easy or Inexpensive task for most property awners. Sure, the assessinent bureaucracy may try ta give a satisfactory explanation as ta how this year's value for a property was calculated. But by the timne the complex formulas and subjective judgments an assessor uses have ail been foectored ln, the average p ersan 15 likely ta go bankers trying ta make sense aofiR. The British Council- Tax. requires an understanding of how 1991 values, were determlned, in order that the property could be 'banded.' But at least R involves anly a one-time effort, rather than an annual mînd-boggling exercise. f you cen read a tape nieasure, UA is real streightforwerd. Next Is APA for which, afthough the pnice >vu paid is easy to unde rstand, the two per cent annual inflation cap edds a little cTmîeittthth pocss FInaIly, there's the Issue of cast. Bath ln terms - o admlnlsterlng the systemn and app eaA V A Is, without a dob n h ost expensive of ail alternatives beceuse it Involves annual reassessment and a huge bureaucratîc army ta maintain the system. And who ln their right mmnd is going* ta go through the expense and, hassle of appeallng, their assessment each year? By comparison, UA,' APA and the BCT are ail low-cost assessment systemns and, because ai thelr desîgn, the need for angoing appuais Is virtually nqon-existent.. When Leach brought AVA ta the cabinet- table, he somehow managed ta self It oq the basîs ai equity, stablity, understendeblity, - and efflcency. It begs the question if -everyone was esleep at the time and If comfimon sense got rarked at the front door ai the Paul Pagnuelo ls a. member of the Ontario Taxpayers 'Hit the nineties' To th. edltor: Re: Letter, 'About wefare, etc.' by Ted Greenfield, Free Press, Sept. 25. I would lik. ta know in what century thls gentleman is lvng. He did have some vald"points et the beglnnlng ai his letter. However, he seemed ta, enter e whole different era part way through. Here are a few ai my comments back ta hlm. It takes two ta Jeango, don't blarne the woman for gettlng pregnant. Are guys. not responsible for their actions. t00? There are cases where the abuse is horrendous in the home envirofiment and these individuels need ta get inta aa place ai saety. Don't minimize abuse ai any kind. You obviously are uneware f you know someone with AIDS. Hitthe nineties - AIDS Is flot just passed through gay sex, and dîrty needles. k bi a reai ilfress that affects real people - - gay or straight Stetislics show that there are meny heterosexual people who have contrected AIDS whether through sex, blond transfusions or usln rus What about the Innocent children wha are born with Rl? Are aIl these, people les? Check out your local AIDS off Ice and gel the ulrght information.. Anybody can die from thîs disease. Maybe you're nextl Have you ever been desperate enough ta have to temporarily rely on' welfare? Obviously notl What recipients receive at this point doas not ailow for the basics ail humans deserve ta have. Try living on it for a while before you take more oai k awey. 1 really hope you are neyer diagnosec i wtfl AILS or are unfortunate enough ta, end up on wefare naw or 1h. way you woul 1ke Ilta be. Welcome ta mhe nineties and get real Watch what you say and how you say it Get your facts stralght about toplcs beûre waslingthie effort ta compleIn ln editorlal space. JIoy Della-Latta Whitby Input at FLEAC To the edîtor: Rie: Article ,school parent cauncil: Chair curlous ýabout board contrai.,'Free Press, Oct. 2 I amn the supernteden ai PrOrams for the Durhain Bor dEducation and the one responsible for witing a new AIDS resorce. 1 want Io claufly an erroneous assumption lef by the quote froin Paul Nicholson ai the Durhamn Region -Parents, CounciL When I was contacted bY Mr. Nicholson about sharlng the draft COPY Oaite IOw AIDS docment,,îtalhlm that the draft document, eccording ta the board's process,would haveIo go to the board'sfarniîy Ie education edvisory committe. (FLEAC)filrst- for comments and relusins before 1 coukl share fiMh thie parents council. 1 alsotokJNhm he w wel-omne ta attend the FLEAC meeting which bs open ta the' public. I Ulnd Mr. NlcWoson's remarks Ironlc since I have been lnvited ta address the parents council for their October meeting and have sald that 1 wouid ho pleased ta come ta discuss prograin initatives.1 The femîly lie education advistory committee contains parents, staff and community members and ensures, mat the board recelves àa vvde spectruin af parental Input on Issues relaeci ta famldly If. education. Bey Freedman