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WHITBY FREE, PRESS, WEDNESDAY, FEB3RUARY 3, 198e,, PAGE, 9 Region hlds to8per cent tax hk Members of- regional counc 'Il voted down an amendment put for- th by -Oshawa representative John, Aker callinEg for a maximum six per Coroner s inq u est than -5 m.p.h. at the t ime of the accident, within te7- m.p.h. speed limit at Lasco. The -truck's headlights were on, testimoney also showed. Questionhing from' the assistant- crown attorney,i.Ed. Bradley,.' revolved around the conditions in the laneway at the time of the accident. The jury heard that Connelly was wearing dark clothes and the truck also. appeared dark due to collection of dust. Witnesses also said a light above one of the two meit shops in the laneway had been shut off a year. and a half ago as it was deemed unnecessary. irk Roberts, an em'ployee at Lasco, also said there was 'a f1ickering light above the door of the melt shop ,from which Connelly emerged., A1ter Connelly -was 'struck, employees called the police, fire and ambulance departments which arrived on the scene at 2.10 a.rn. Jack Heynemans, 'a Whitby Ambulance attendant,- said when he arrived at the scene Connelly had alieady been coyered by a blanket. He could find no pulse or .igns of life and told'police to cali the coroner. Dr. Mel Carson carried out the , autopsy on Connelly at iehtby! General Hospital the morning of the accident and said he died of a,crushed head, chest and abdomen. * He also found no trace Of drugs or akcohol in Connelly's body. The T erex truck had been called to haul debris from meit v shop #1, but a double check showed- the shop was not prepared for the truck. "1 phoned back and told him not to corne up but Gary (the truck driver) had already left," said Roberts. Fred lacavoni, 'an, inspector with the Ministry of Labor, said measurements he took showed the driver of the truck would have difficulty seeing anyone standing within six feet of the truck. The driver would also have trouble seeing because of the inuffier pipps coming from the hood.. said Iac.-voni, who added he thought the lighting in the area cent increase in taxes. this year. 1Aker suggested the eight per cent or less budget recommendeèd. by the finance committeeýwas "comfor'- table" but said.the Regiýon could pare down tosix per cent if itwan- tedto. But finance chairman Jim Witty of Ajax said to cut down wouldnot be inthe interest of the public. "As.,finance chairmaji I will aàbide hby council's. decisiqn to cut down to'six per cent," said- Witty. "It's easy enough* to do but it will not beserving the needs of the tac-ý payers." As an 'example,- hé recalled D)urhaxn. R egional. Police were askedto Cut theirbudget tO the bone for several years. "Last. year they just had to, catch up and we all know how high the in- crease was in the police budget," warned Witty. 've got a knife here, I can start slashing today. But each department or agency now scheduled for cuts would have to inrease those reduction by 50 per cent." He said taxpayers are demnan- ding services such as:policing and social services, two areas that are responsible for driving up the budget. He advise'd thé Region had to chop $1'.5 million from funds requested in order'to arrive at an eight per cent increase, adding Aker'g recommendation to pare down to six per cent would mean shaving another $840,Ã"00. Aker's amendment was lost in a recorded vote of 17-4 (nine absent). A subsequent vote to keep any budget increase, to a maximum -of eight per cent was won 18-3.. The approved guidelines support a $67-million budget' offset by almost $20 million in nonprogram financing.. That would mean $49.1 million will have to come from tax- SEE PAGE 31 Correction Shira's was incorrectly spelled in a Jan. 27 article about the Whitby store. The Free Press wishes' to, apologize for the error.