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Whltby Free Press, Wednesday, November 15, 1995,. Page 23 Ruling on Oshawa ýtax reviewed in Whitby ByMike KowaIski A ruing which will significantly reduce taxes ini downtown Oshawa BYE BYE, BLUE JAYS? I sure amn goîng to miss thase Blue Jays. Taronto Just wanl seem 1k. Toronto without basebail ln the Dame this summer. Yau would thlnk that two world champlonships and the, most loyal fans ln the major beagues would count for somethlng. But I guess business is business. Who would have thought that Blîî Gates would wake Up ane momning, decide that Mcrosoft needed a basebal team, discaver that the Jays were for sale and then buy the whole outflt lock stock and barrel anid move k south of the border? We tdied to keep them of course, who wouldn't have? But k was polntless, we couldn't Compete with that brand new staium, the tax 'breaks, the reenue deai that was offered on concessions, corporate boxes and the lure of real U.S. dollars. Sure the politidians huffed and puffed and the. fans demonstrated, but it made no 'differencei bye bye, basebaiLl And what are we goîng to do wlhh the Sk>dome? The NFL lsn't going to come here and the Raptors MIl eventually move Into their new stadium, f R ever gels bulL 0f course we stilI have the Argos. But I wonder if w. would have spent ail those tax dollars to build that stadiumn for a GFL franchise? What on earth are we going to fill k with? Arena football? The Mapla Leafs? Or maybe just tumn it Into a. multi-level parking garage? Who Ywuld have thought it could happen to us? We were a wori class city, a global centre, the envy 0f ail Canada. We werent 1ik. Quebec City or Wnnpeg who bost their hockey teains, or 'for that matter, Baltimore, Los Angeles or. heaven help us, Cleveland who bost their N FL franchises. No, w. were Toronto, we weére different. We knew that those Amercan cides had crumbllng social services and schools that were an embarrassment. But we neyer gu.ssed that they would came affer aur basebail team ta distract people from what was r.alIy golng on ln their Ives. But now the BlueJays are gone and ail that we have loft are aur memonles and the faint hope that, maybe, ln the. next round of expansion, we might gel a new franchise. 0f course, the fictional cunt that I have just written hasn't came true ... yet. But k i could. The Jays are for sale and who's ln say that the new owners AIlI.be Cnhn or thet they Mi want to k.op the. teamn her.? Sports teamn own.rs are the robber barons of the late 2Oth century. What lliey care about is maxdmizing profit, nat tii. gaine, flot the. fans and certalnly nat the geographlc location. y0ur teai--- ding-watc-out could reverberate here. Municipal officiais and downtown Whitby busiess awners alike are giving close ucrutiny te, a recent decision that will slash property and business taxes in downtown Oshawa by an average 25 per cent. Mpre than 270 businesses will benefit from a decision by the' assessment office to review asesent in the city's downtawn core. Reductions will range from a low of 2.5 per cent ta a wliopping 52 per cent, depending on prorimity ta the intersection cf King ahd Simcoeà streets and age cf the building. The assessment office's offer - accepted by the Downtown Oshawa Board of Management earlier this nionth' - avoided a planned mass tax appeal the board had been preparing for 1996. Since he had not yet discussed it witl i bsOshiawa colleagues, Mayor Tom Edwards did not know if downtown WhIitby could benefit from a similar arrangement. 71 don't know how the ruling will affect us. The question's a bit premature at this time," said Edwards. However, he was open te any proposai that could bring financial relief ta local merchants and business owners. "Any help we can provide legally and appropriately will be fortlicoming," said Edwards. 'Tm pleased they (Oshawa) were able ta, make that kcind of improvement. It adds te my comments about the need for emnergency lielp for (aur) downtown community." Edwards was referring te last weeks decision by Town council ta spend up te, $15,000 for a winter carnival to be held in conjunction with the annual Santa -Claus parade on Dec. 2. "It (decision) lias drawn some adverse criticism," Edwardse admitted, 'but it's a very critical situation down there. "Anything we can do te help," must be considered, he added. While lie, tea, is awaiting further information, Paul Savage, chair of Whitby's* Downtown Business Improvement Aiea (DBIA), envisions'similar action here. "I think Qshawa lias taken a coutageous step," said Savage. "It goes along the line of what I've been saying to the Town and, (DBIA) board members, that we have te have a level playing field." Savage said downtawn Whitby is at a disadvantage ini attracting new development due ta geographical and other barriers, so, tai relief is the only way of keeping downtown merchants alive. "I'd want ta get the specifics *Secure locked containers at no extra cost *Bonded drivers *100% of paper is recycled *Certif icate of destruction *Volume discounts available yeâr-end, clean-outs CAL #Off (905) 427-3605 (Derrick) ffIÀff0Àff4-ze * WASTE SYSTEMS from the business association in Oshawa, but I believe that I would ask for a reduction ini business taxes, not property taxes," he said. "In my opinion,,a reduction ini business taxiBi more important because most of the businesses are tenants, flot landowners. "To give a reduction in property tai might not be passed on." 'ILong-term gaein' for Oshawa In addition to applauding Oshawa politicians for flot fighting the ruling, Savage welcomed the city council's decision to hire an econornic development officer whose role will be to attract more dleveiopment downtown. Savage said he has been told by Town staff that no one in Whitby's economic development department has specific responsibility for downtown Whitby. "H ow can the Town of Whitby, or any town, have a meeting on development when they don't have anybody with any knowledge of it?" he said. Savage's Oshawa counterpart Darryl Sherman said bis board retained a lawyer last spring ta review the existing tax structure. Downtown Oshawa had last been assessed in 1961 and there was a perception that downtown landowners were paying an inequitble share of taxes, Sherman said, a fact later conflrmed by the lawyer. *"His advice was ta prepare a mass tax appeal for '96 for al businesses within the BIA%," said Sherman. Sherman said bis board advised both the city and assessment office of its intentions and the latter drafted a proposai amenable to the businesses and municipality. "It was a decision of the assessment office. They're basicaily making an adjustment to remove the inequities," he said. 'The City had ta support it or the province would have, done it anyway." According to Sherman, aider buildings closest ta King and: Simcoe, which had been paying as much aeï $1,000 per linear foot, will pay about $300 neit year. His own business, Wilson Furniture, which i. farther away from Oshawa's "four corners," will drap ta $170 from $250 for a saving of $3,500. Sherman said the "short-term pain" ta City coffers wiil be offset by the "long-term gain" to be enjoyed by the business community. He hopes bis fellow merchants will plow their savings back into their stores ta attract even more business. 'The purpose cf this is to provide relief ta those who pay the most," Sherman added. Oshawa treasurer Nelson Tellis was awaiting the resuits of the amended asem'sament before lie could indicate exactly how much mon'ey the City wiil lose in taxes. Whitby tr-easurer AI Claringbold dedllned ta speculate on the local situation. "I don't know that the circumstances are precisely the sýame, so Fmi not able ta comment," said Claringbold. FF L THE REGIONAL MNICI PALITY NOTICE" 0F A PUBLIC ME.ETING Take notice that the Regional Planning Commitee wiIl consider at a meeting to be held on: Tuesday, November 28, 1995, AT 1:30 P. M. PLANNING DEPARTMVENT BOARDROOM 1615 DUNDAS ST. E., WHITBY 4TH FLOOR, LANG TOWER, WEST BUILDING, WHITBY MALL An amendment to the Durham Regional Officiai Plan that proposes to incorporate provisions *to address pol icies in the Town of Whitby Officiai Plan, as adopted by Town Council on September 28, 1994, including: A) the deletion of Regional Node i designation at intersection of Taunton Rd. and Brock Street; B) the deletion of Garrard Road between Conlin Road and Taunton Road as an interpretation feature;, C) the addition of Living Area designation on the north side of Taunton Road between the Oshawa municipal boundary and Garrard Road; D) the reduction of the commercial floorspace for the Garden Street and Rossland Road Main Central Area; E) the addition of a Sub-Central Area designation to recognize downtown Brooklin; and F) the addition of a Sub-Central Area designation at Taunton Road and. Brook Street. These areas are indicated on the map below. Subsequently, the Regional meeting to be held on: Council wiII consider the recommendation of the Planning committee at a Wednesday, December 6, 1995, AT 10:00 A. M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS BUILDING 605 ROSSLAND ROAD EAST, WHITBY The report related to the proposed amendment is available for inspection in the offices of the Planning Department, 1615 Dundas St. E., 4th Floor, Lang Tower, West Building, Whitby Mail, W~hitby, or by caîiing Grant MoGregor, Planning Department (Whitby) 728-7731 /(Toronto) 686-1651. Requests to make a presentation before the Planning Committee concemning the proposed amendment must be forwarded to Alex!l L. Georgieff, M.C.l.P., R.P.P., Commissioner of Planning, 1615 Dundas St. E., 4th Floor, Lang Tower Wést Building, Whitby Mail, Whitby, Ontario, Li N 6A3, and shouid be received by Friday preceding the meeting. Requests to make a presentation before the Regional Council conceming the proposed amendment must be forwarded to the Regional Clerk, Regionai Headquarters Building, Rossland Road East, WHITBY, Ontario, Li N 6A3, and shouldbe received .48 hours prior to the Regionai counicil meeting. REGIONAL FILE NO.: LOPA-W-95-001 Gerri-Lynn O'Connor Chairman, Planning Committee A.L. Georgieff, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Commissioner of Planning.