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Hospital request for financing not unreasonable Continued from page 6 7 · Friday, February 26, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com this new hospital being built for our community is being covered by the province and other sources. What this amounts to is $15 to $35 per year per $100,000 of your home value assessment. The average home cost in Oakville according to Oakville Milton District Real Estate Board (www.omdreb.ca) is $531,893. This means that the average home owner in Oakville will be asked to pay approximately $80 more per year in property taxes (5.31 times $15/year) increasing to $186 per year (5.31 times $35/year). There seems to be a contingent in this city that feels this completely unreasonable. Let's look at the facts again. If you live in a half a million dollar home, it's likely indicative that you have the means to either pay for it or borrow the money to buy it. Chances are you are doing pretty well. Even if you are on a fixed income and purchased your home many years ago, you may have experienced appreciation in your home value that most people can only hope for. You may be struggling in the recession, but you are still way ahead of most people in this country, never mind the world. Next how many of you went on vacation last year? Did it cost more than $186 dollars? How many of you pick up a coffee on the way to work at Tim Hortons or Starbucks? A medium coffee at Tim Hortons for one person every day for a year is approximately $365. If you like a latte, you'll burn through your $186 in under two months at Starbucks. Do you eat out once in a while? Even McDonald's can set you back $25 for a family of four. If you eat at McDonald's once every two months you are getting pretty close to your $186. We are not being asked for much when in return we are being handed a state-of-the-art hospital and high quality health care. Oakville is one of the wealthiest cities in this province and this country. It is unrealistic and selfish for us to expect the province to cover the cost of a hospital that other communities can only hope for. When we waste time and energy quibbling over a small request of funding to provide us with exceptional health care, we embarrass ourselves and insult those who have placed a generous offer before us. Finally I ask this, when it is your turn to use our health care system, when a loved one has a heart attack, when a child or grandchild is sick or injured, when someone you love is in an accident and needs emergency care, will $186 dollars per year be too much? HEATHER CONWAY 0 % 2010 LANCER SE 2010 OUTLANDER XLS 4WD rors and keyless entry