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bbnbbbbm stouffville suntribune thursday march 2 2006 7 unexpected building permit revenue bolsters budget construction delays could hamper next years budget by hannelore volpe staff writer whitchurchstouffville has found an extra 18-mil- lion in its budget thanks in part to more money than expected from building per mits the amount is the differ ence between what was esti mated in november during budget deliberations and actual figures which take into account greatly increased building permit revenues late last year the towns total budget is around 20 million david cash the towns chief administrative officer called the surplus a unique situation at last weeks coun cil meeting the additional funds allow the town to top up reserve accounts to make sure there is enough money in future to replace machin ery large items such as fire trucks and buildings when they wear out for many years it has been difficult for the town to have enough money to put in reserves mr cash said in an interview the additional money will also help keep taxes at rea sonable levels in future years councillors believe councillor rob hargrave reiterated the position he took last fall when he requested the budget process be finalized in february or march so we have a com plete reconciliation of all the dollars he was also concerned with the impact of some con struction delays in subdivi sions such as the mattamy homes development west of ninth line south of main street closing dates of the 285 single family homes with some semidetached and townhomes have been delayed up to a year mr har grave was concerned about the impact on tax revenues we dont count on new assessment right away mr cash said in an interview he explained the budget is for mulated to take a certain number of construction delays into account the delays to mattamy homes is due to holdups experienced by the develop er lebovic enterprises in having the plans registered and the land serviced the delays are not due to the big pipe mary jane dekort pres ident of the east gta divi sion of mattamy homes said the delays are up to one year great gulf homes which is building 213 homes is also affected it is very hard on our pur chasers ms dekort noted some purchasers have received their money back others have taken the option to buy a larger house for the same price as they wait out the delay both councillors hargrave and phil bannon would like a hours a day days a week call 1888hsfinfo to make your donation towards lifesaving research today ha iweewsi nick zansoitico 1bm sun sound package leather trimmed steering wheel and so much more nicks pick 2006 jequinox ltl mth pfusfrt taxes see me for details markville 5336 hwy 7 markham chevroijkt corvette inc 9052941440 heart and stroke foundation of ontario heart disease and stroke claim more than 79000 lives each year in canada this message brought to you as a community service ofthe economist sun pjan0sca canadas largest piano retailer huge piano sale pickering town centre 1355 kingston rd pickering march 2 3 4 5 toil fri 10spm sat 1u6pm sunll5pm 10 year warranty free first tuning free bench free delivery financing available oac home of the famous niemeyer pianos new and used pianos digitals including niemeyer kawai samick yamaha young chang for info call or visit wwwpiangsca 18002817172 pianhhouse burlington inc to see the budget being com pleted in the spring instead of the fall theyll get their wish next time due to the november municipal elections the budget deliberations for 2006 will be pushed ahead to the new year mr cash noted mr hargrave wants all the facts and figures in when set ting a niill rate he said because we have to stand behind it it is the taxpayers money transparency is impor tant especially in a public for many years it has been difficult for the town to have enough money to put in reserves david cash chief administrative officer corporation mr hargrave stated saying he doesnt like dealing with mystery mr bannon also wants all the fig ures in before dealing with the budget he cites the mpac tax assessments which werent known in november when the budget was set mpac doesnt finalize tax assess ment numbers until mid- december in ward 1 some assessments range from 19 to 26 per cent higher than last year we have to know that the money is in the bank before we set any rates or increases we cant guesstimate on this mr bannon said he too is concerned about the possible impact on tax revenue because of hous ing construction delays the budget process is being reviewed to see what is best for the municipality mr cash said there are advantages to having budgets set in november to allow planning tendering and hiring how ever setting a budget in the spring means figures will be more certain it depends on the situa tion in the municipality mam its natural to feel this good lose your weight for 1 a day limited time offer based on full program excludes mandaory product 9056426906 6162 main street t weight loss nutrition mm