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PAGE 6. WEDNI SDAYJULY 22. 1(81. W[ITBY FREE PRESS Pro ety ax s eeming unbearable Drumm By MICHAEL KNELL Free Press Staff Municipal taxes will become an even greater burden than they are now if something isn't done to improve the systemn according to East Ward Councillor Joe Drurnr. Drumm said recently that the present system of municipal taxation is unfair and is causing Pop People Pop CASE 0F 12-30Ooz BOTTLES $4.99 & dep. CASE 0F 24-10 oz. BOTTLES $449 & dep. many problema for local government. As an example, he points to two fairly recently developed sub- divisions in the Town of Whitby. In Bluegrass Meadows, Drumm dlaims that the average property tax bill is $1,600 a year while acroas the street residents of the Whitby Towne Estates pay an average of $1,290 a year. "'That kind of boggies the mind, " he said. Inflationary press- ures are causing these taxes to jumnp annually and the future tax bill wil probably be greater than imaginedL "If we continue with the present syatem of municipal funding over the next 10 years whgt will happen to these taxes just to keep Up with the rate of in- flation?" Drumm asks adding that the point will soon be reached when the taxpayer will no longer be able to psy. "The well has to have a bottom. " Drumm said that the only reasonable solution to the problem is to change the provin- cially instituted ayatem of municipal taxation. "lIt's the whole tax structure that needs revamping," he said. 0f the $8.34 million that the Town of Whitby wîll spend this year, 68 per cent or $5.7 million is raised through direct taxation on the residen- tial, commercial or in- dustrial property owner. BROWN'eS FOODMASTER BROOKLIN 655m4521 8:30 arn to 6 pm ASSOAED FLVORSExcept Thuns. & Fni. Nights til 9 prn The next largest sour- ce of revenue ia mornes raised through the ren- tal of various town- owned properties such as the Iroquois Park Arena. This revenue accounts for 7½ par cent of the town's budget. Another major source of revenue is grants that are received fromn the senior levels of govern- ment. These grants Fafls," a contemporary dance band will per- form. For tickets or more information about this event contact the staff of the Whitby Parka and Recreation Department at the Iroquois Park Complex at 66&7745. FRESH PRODUCE AVAILABLE'DAILY corne in two forma, con- ditional and uncondi- tional. Unconditional grants, which may be spant at the town's discretion account for five per cent of the budget. Conditional grants, that must be spent on certain projects or programa, amount to 6½ per cent of ahl the money spant. The town also ralses money through the issuing of licenses and parmits as well as fromn investments and other sources. I -The money is then distributed to each department which is reaponsible for various programs. Currently, the public works depart- ment. gets the lion's share of the revenues spending 36.9 per cent of the town's budget. Another big expendi- ture department is parka and recreation which gets 22.7 par cent of the town's budget. However, the depar- tment with one of the smalleat shares is the planning which only spends 3.7 par cent of the budget. This 10w figure ta causing problema for the town Drumm said adding that this year'a jump in the growth rate ia putting financial pressure on the depar- tment. "We had this tremen- doua boom that we didn't expect," Drummn said. The situation with municipal taxes ia "'get- ting unhearable, " he said adding that in hia opinion the province ia reluctant to address the problem at this time. "It'a a political hot potato," he said. "Something has to happen and happen pretty soon." The councillor also said that one of the problema the town is encountering ta that people are blaming th.e town for this problem. But, he points out, the town is the collector for property taxes paid to both Durham Region and the Durham Board of Education. This year the board of education will spend approximately $19.6 million in Whitby and the region will spend ASSORTEDFLAVORS