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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 1978, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby Voice of. theCZounty Town Michaeil Theonly Whtby newspaper independently owned and open SERVINO OVER 28,000 READERS CmuiyEio OlnWne Pubiished every Wednesday Conltytn Editor -Birin WtOr Production Mbnager -MreBugS by M..M. PblWdnPrint & P rmotions' by .B.. Pbi9hiMa nager -Robin Lyon and Photography InDCiZassif lad Ad Manager -. vair DMU Phone 668-6111 Circulation Manager -W~nLey h Mailing Permit No. 460 The free PfessBuildi, Member of the: PubnsBurgessgEdior131 .Brock Street Norti, Better Business Bureau'of Toronto Pulse-Mngn Burgess, P.ox206. Wtby, Ont. Whitby Chamberfu " , 17Eitu7 Ar8Unisior nluei VUIU7[5I uIL. Pleas elet us know when roads are closed A few Issues ago, we editorialized on the poor condition of Whltby's roads, and we have seen residents go so far as to plant fiowers ln the potholes to bring the matter to the attention of the town council. Our editorial on Whitbyý's roads beln the worst ln Durham Region did not go over very weli with Mayor Jim Gartshore, who took some time to explain the road situation ln Whitby to us. After carping away about our potholed roads, we are pleased to see that this sumrmer there are a numfber of prajects for road improvernent about to begin. Contracts have been let'to pave the Ashburn Road, where residents complained. about flying stones which might hit young children. A contract has also been let to construct storm and sanitary sewers on John -Street between Palace and Brock Streets, and there is road work planned in the Dunilop-Green-Col borne and Athol Street area. Ail very well and good, we say, but there is one thing that appears to be neglected ln the road work in this town, and we wouid not wish'to see it happen when the above mentionedd projects get started in August. ln the course of delivering the Free Press every Wednesdday, we travel most of the major roads ln town, and'therefore, see the work (or lack of it) that is going on, on a regùlar basis. On our last delivery, July 12, we ran into a.couple of unexpected roadblocks. We discovered that Manning Road was closed between Thickson and Garrard Roads, and a sign was posted, stating "Closed July 7". Further along on the route, we were stopped by construction taking place on Green and Athol Streets near the liquor store, wrth no signs indicating when this work started or when it was to finish. This leads us to wonder what wilI happen when the next set of' road works projects get under way. Will residents suddenly discover a road they travel every day, torn up one day without warning, and have no Indication when they can use it again? We fear this may bé the case. A year or two ago, the Heriry Street bridge over Highway,401 was ciosed suddenly for repairs. A sign was put up stating the road was closed as of a certain day, and gave no Indication when this major traffic. artery would be opened again. Inquiries on this point to the Region of Durham and Ministry of Transportation and Communications brought forth the "Trudeau shrug" style of indifference when the Free Press tried to find out for the people of Whitby when Henry Street would be open again. The off iciaIs we spoke to did not feel they hadl any obligation to tell the public how long the road would be closed. We certainly do not oblect to roads being reconstructed and repaired, for we know the need is great, but it Is only fair and a rnatter of common courtesy ta tel1 the residents of Wh itby when a road wll be closed> and when it wili open again. This should be done by means of announcements ln the newspaper and signs posted on the site of construction. It is no good to know that a road wili be çiosed on July 7 when you are stopped by the sign on July 12. The slgn (on Manning Road) was flot even there when we made the delivery on July 5. It ail cornes dlown ta a matter of common courtesy. Let the people know the dates of road closures ln advance, s0 they may avoid the construction areas and not, face the unnecessary frustration of coming ýupoi themn by surprise. De-r Sir: ~Denis O'Connor High Schooi wishes ta thank yots for your generous coJerage of our school acivlies during the past ye.r Doc-a-thon 111, spôrts, musIc and ail our speciai events. .Speciai thanks goes ta Brion Wlnter for his ardicliet andd photo- crèphv lt's great to be able ta, keep the community avware of the kind of programmes we are operating and the press coverage provides encouragement ta the individuais invoived. Thank you. Sincerely, *The staff and Students Ornis O'Connor lgh PitkOPERTY TAX REFORM - RESIDENCES The general consensus of ail parties in the Ontario Legisiature, as well as representatives from local government is that if we are ta continue ta finance even part of the costs of local governments with the property tax, ihen reform is necessary, and taxes should be based on market value assessment. Most-residents generally understand the market value of their property and this is a positive indication of the siake a resident has in the community. Hawever there appears ta be some difference of opinion over the fairest way of determining the "market value" of property. Presently some 120 municipalities in Ontario are on the market value assessment system. Market value is being- deterxnined by Ministry of Revenue asessors, taking into account the follawing factors: - A -recent free sale of the property itself where neither the condition of the praperty nor the market have since changed; - Recent free sales of identical properties in the same neighbourhood and market; - Recent free sales of comparable properties; - The price which Oie revenue producing possibilities of the property will command; - the depreciated replacement cosi of the properiy itseif. Il bas been generally agreed thai residential property shouid be iaxed at iess than 100% of market value. The Governmeni of Ontario is commitied ta ithe policy that residents should pay less of the overali praperty tax bil. The assessors will, of course, continue ta function in the raie of assessing property, but on a uniform basis as set oui in the legisiation. Mostiof those involved agree that with reform, residential property taxes should be based on the building plus a reasanable amount of land. It la anticipstecid that ai least part of the deba(e here wll centre arowid wbatla a '4reasonabie amount of land". Certainly this is quite different in an urban versus rural area, and yet what we ultimately hope ta achieve with property tax reform is at least some consistency. The Durham West Riding bas experienced rapid urbaniza- tion over the past few years. As new properties were brought onto the assessment roils ai curreni values, the older homes continued to be assessed at a more preferential rate. As a resuit,; taxes being paid by residents in teh new subdivisions are proportionately somewhat higher than those being paidd by residents in the established residential sections of the Riding. As well, assessors have always tended to place a higher assessment value on multiple family dwellings than an single family dwellings because of revenue producing potential. The landloard includes the cost of taxes in rentais, and therefore in many instances residents living in an apartment often pay taxes nearly equal to residents in a single family dwelling. With reform, there wiIl be winners and lasers. Hawever what is being sought here is a tax shift to correct inequities, not a tax increase. Total revenue collected should not be higher after reform is implemented. Tax reform is not, and 1 repeat is nat, designed ta raise more money but ta raisEýthe same total on a more equitable basis.-< Preliminary computer printouts show that for 1977, average taxes for single residences in Pickering wauld have been dawn $152 with reform measures, in Ajax down $97 and in Whitby down $128. Similarly, the average decrease for each multiple dwelling of up ta five units wouid have decreased by $77 in Pickering, $42 in Ajax and $117 in Whitby. The pattern for multiple dwellings of over five unhts is much the same. 1 don't want to mislead yau by saying everyone's property taxes wili go down wiih reform, because some would increase. But on the overali average, lower residential taxes wouid be the case. These dollars will be madde up primarily fromn a shift ta higher taxes on vacant residential and commercial land in ail three municipalities, and higher tax revenues fromn government and other similar properties. To prevent abrupt tax changes, it is anticlpatedd that a phase-in program will be implemented for up to five years. Each property owner would be assessed according ta market value, and receive notice for the full amount 0< taxes. However, the actual bill would gradually change over a periodd Mof ive years, until the full amount of taxes due là reached, If you have speciflc questions on the residential prOPerty taxt please Contact my Coostituency Office at 6834707. 1 - 00% ruicu uy