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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, JULY 26e 1978, WHIITBY FREE PRESS Wh itby SERVING OVER 28,000 REAERS( Voîce of. the Cou nty Town Michael Ian Burgess,ý Publishér-Managing Editor' Theonly Whtby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. Communlty Editr PubIished every Wednesday contrguting Editor Production Manager by MB.M.Print & Promnotional b B- PUbIishgt Mananer and Photography lflC.Classif ied Ad Manager Phone 66&6111 'Circulation Manager Mailing Parmi, lhe free Plres B dig Member 131 -BrOck Street Nor2h. Btter Business Bý F9G Bloýx.206. Wltby$ Ont. Whtby Chamberc - Brian Wiflter -Jim Quel, -marie BuVgOStS -Robi 'n LY-00 mfjicn LOf tNo. 460 rof the. areau of ToroCto- of CormOrO 1978 carnival salutes Chamber of Commerce Tonlght at Heydenshore Pavillon, the l3th annual Whltby County Town Carnivai will be officially opened by Mayor Jlm Gartshore. This year the County Town Caàrnivai takes as ifs theme, the golden Iubllee of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce, whlch has served the Town of Whitby for 50 years. It Is very fitting that the Chamber be honored by the carnivat in this way, for It was the Chamber of Commerce ln 1966 which started the County Town CArnival. Since that time, 13 years ago, the Carnival has been operated by a committee of ifs own, and Jack Woodward, the President of the Cham ber of Commerce at the time the carnival started, has continued to serve to this day as the carnlval's General Chairman, and later as Executive Director. For his contributions to the carnival, Mr. Woodward won the Peter Perry Award as Whitby's outstandlng citizen of 1912. Ton lght the Peter Perry Award will1 be preented to the outstanding Whitby citizen of 1977, contlnuing another tradition established by the Chamnber of Commerce, more than 20 years ago. The Whitby, Chamber of Commerce, excpet for a three-year lapse durl.ng the war years, has served the Town of Whltby weIl, and deserves tobe recognized tonlg ht for ifs contributions to the community. Current Chamber President Gord Hanna and his directors have been very vusy working to provide theis year's County Town Carnivai with a Wintario draw, a three-rlng circus, a trade fair, and the Peter Perry Award dinner. they dese rve la vote of thanks f rom the community for their hard work, not only at carnival time, but ail year-round. This year's County Town Carnival has several new events to offer for the enloyment of the people of Whltby. Topping the 1sf is the Wintario draw, the f irst ever held ln Whtby, which takes place at Iroquois Park Arena Aug. 3. Bert Heaver wlll provide the entertain- ment for the evenlng wlth his annual varlety show, and the draw ltself will be televlsed lve f rom the arena. A speclal feature of the television show willI be a short film cl ip on the Town of Whitby and ifs attractions. Other new events this year include a horse show at BrookllnFair Grounds, a tug of war between the Durham Reglon and Metro Toronto Police, a chicken barbeque by the Rotary Club, two corn roasts by the Whitby Jaycees, a giant Legion dart fournament and a three-rlng circus ln the Iroquois Park Arena. This year's County Town Carnival promises to be bigger and better than ever, so welcomne-to the Carnival and have a good time! PROPERTY TAX REFORM/MARKET, - VALUE ASSESSMENT When discussing:property tax reform and market value assessment with my constituents, the most frequently asked question is "Why reform. . . what's wrong with the presèint system?" The real answer to this question is that the present system is inequitable. To explain why it is inequitable is not quite so simple. At lesst some of the answer lies in Uic assessment procedures, because the present property tax system is based on outdated and inconsistent assessment legisiation. Just to give you a very sketchy ides of how assessment concepts determined years ago stili affect our life today, in 1841 The District Councils Act brought government by the Justices of the Peace ta an end and empowered each district council to levy tàxes on property to meet the financial requiremefltrts of the townships for their local purposes. In 1849. following a prolonged six year disput in the Legisiature, legisiation was adopted whereby property subject ta a5sess- ment and taxation was carefully defined, and responsibility for determining value was given to the municipal assessores. The definition of "land"~ in this legisiation is in essence stili retained in The Assessment Act of today. He re are those road clos ing dates EDITOR'S NOTE Last week on our editorial page,we made a plea for the Town of Whltby ta let us know when roads wIll bu closed for construction this summer because we had discovered a number of sites where roads were torn up with no Indication of how long they would be ouf of service. We have received the followlng 1sf of road construction projects and complet ion dates from the town's construction supervisor,and thank hlm for provldiiig this Infor- mation to our readers. Dar Sir~ We are encloslflg for your information, thie follow- ing rod construction Whifby. 1. Brock Street North C.P.R. Grade Separation - Maple Street f0, Manning Road - Completion -date July, 1979. Contractor: Dagmrar Construction Ltd 2. Garrard Road Re-; construction - Westwood Road f0 Rossland Road - Completion date September 12, 1978. Contractor: Miller Paving Ltd. 3. John Street Storm Sewers - completion date August 14, 1978. Contrac- for: Advice Contracting Ltd. 4. Green - Athol Colborne-l2unlop Streets Storin Sewers - coniple- tion date Aug. 14, 1978. Contractor: Garda Con- structIon Ltd. s, Asbburn Road Improveet - comPle- tion date August 21à, 1978. Contractor: Elirpa Con- struction &Materials Liniited. 6. burns Street West Reconstruction - starting date August 7, 1978, completion date Septem- ber 4, 1978. 7. Anderson Sftreet Improvement - comple- tion date September, 1978 In addition fo our road contracts there are various streets being effected by subdivision developmenf wlthin the Town. 1. Manning Road Re- construction - Thickson Road to Hazelwood drive, - completiori date AUgUSt 14, 1978. Developer: Markborough Properties, Contractor: Armbro Construction. 2. Green - Ontaro-. Athol -St.f John Streefs subdivision developmont completion date September, 1978. Developer: B.H. Strong, Contractor: Elirpa Con- struction &Materials Limited. 3. Kendalwood Road Reconstruction - Broad- view Street southerly completion date Septemn- ber, 1978. Developer: Farewell Estates, Con- tractor: Prospect Paving It is the policy of the Town of Whitby ta notlfy ail residents.by letter, on the street affected by the construction contracts. The roads under con- struction may be closed to through trafflc during the work day,. however, access fo local residents is maintained at ail times Yours very truly, G.rald P. Haley, Construact ion Super. Vis«r. In 1866, znunicipalities were permitted ta exempt selected industries fromn taxation for a limited term. In some municipalities, there are stili fixed assessment having several years to run. In 1877, final legisiation was adopted giving ail sehool boards in Ontario the right to demand propertytaxes for sehool support, and placed responsibility upon municipal authorities to provide the money and left to them the problem 0of collection. The Assessment Act of 1904 provided a legisiative base for property assessment and taxation in Ontario. Although this Act was re-written in 1967, the basic concepts remain largely unchanged. In 1918 legisiation allowed for a partial exemption on veterans' residences, which is stili in effeet in the City of Toronto today, even though the veterans have long since ceased to own the property. The prolonged depression of the thirties necessitated a sharp reduction in assessed values because 0f declining real property values. During World War II it was possible to obtain sufficient tax revenues without reassessing, and assessed values therefore contined to lag behind real values. At the end of the war, bec ause of low values attached, to property during the depression, there was a major adjustment upwards on the assessed value of property, but only to the value of the property at the outbreak of the war. To catch up to the true post-war levels would have been too much of a burden on the taxpayer. In some, but not ail, instances the 1940 values are stili being used today. Presently assessment and taxation is touched upon in 18 Provincial Statutes, calling for assessment of real property to be based on consideration of its actual value at present use, location, rental value, sale value, cost of replacement of buildings and any other circumstances affecting the property's value. As a resuit 0f all this, over the years the municipal assessors' function has become mainly one of interpreting the legisiation covering every conceivable type and size of property. Certainly outdated assessment legfisiation is not solely responsble for the inequities In the present system, but once legisiation that is popular is on the books, poliically speaking it is very difficuit to remove. Most provincial grants to municipalities are also based on the assessment, and 1 will be explaining how this creates even more inequities ini a future column. Another contributing factor ta inequitable property taxes is the massive -changes in the value of different types of residential property over the past decade. For instance, in the urban area single family dwellings are rnuch greater demand than ever before, and hence they ae comparatively more valuable today over apartments than they were a fewý years ago. In an attempt to achieve some equality between municipalities, and between properties within the same municipality, the Province assumed the assessment function from municipalities in 1970, and placed a f reeze on assessment values. Inimediately a province-wide assessment at market value was undertaken. Just as th" was nearing completion in 1973, it became necessary ta begin a second reassessment because of the rapid increase in housixig prices, and hence values. - 1 hope the foregoing will provide you with some insight into what bas created the confusion in assessment and taxation that we have t"dy. In the coming weeks 1 wîll be discussing a varîety of issues surrounding property tax reform such as the difference ini tax burdens borne by different types of properties, by similar individual properties and by govern- ment properties. These articles will address problems within the present system and outline proposais for establisbing one set of rides for assessing and taxlng property in Ontario. If you would 1k. specitlc additonal Information on why reform las necessary, please contact my Constltuency Offloe at %6.-