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Page 6, Whltby Free Press, Wednesday, August 21, 1996 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whftby resîdents for Whitby residents! MEMBER 0F:(dM Canadian Community Ontario Communlty Newspaper Association Newspaper Association Whitby Whitby Business Oshawa-Durham Home Chamber of Commerce ln Action Builders' Association The Whitby Free Press 15 distnibuted free to 99% of the homes in Whitby. Brookiin, Ashbum & Myrtie as weli as numerous public and commercial outiets n Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. 28,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $36 + GST e Outside Canada $85 + GST ISSN#0844-398X Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario mc. 900 Hopkins St. /Box 206, Whutby, Ontario Li N 5S1l Phone: 668-611il Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Donald G. Hinton - Sales Manager Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newýsprint with minimum 20% 49 recycled content using vegetable based inks. P* 0 Alil wntten material, illustrations and advertislng contained herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by an y means for commercial puroses without the express permission of thé newspaper ls prohibited and ls a violation of Canadian copyright law. Reproduction for non-ommrcia ditribtio shold eara credit fine to the Whitby Free Press. The truth hurts MP' To the edltor: 1Innast weWekdltion af Thi Frees Press, MP Dar McTeague responded ta ml later by. maklng a slow o arxa Ions aalstmyseif arn aher Zmemrfaihk constituency. He stated tha my statements In itleter ln the Aug. 7 Issue -were mlalse, fanciful, p artisan prapaganda.' Mr. McTeéague states that1 shauki respeci the demoacratic wIU af the people af the communlty." I dol 1 respect the fact diat Mr. McTeague . Is aur represetative ln Ottawa, and 1 wlsh ta hold Nm accounitable ta us, since he may have forgotten that he works for the peaple af this rding even 9 ù" ysupport [bla or Reform. I arn not wrlting an behalf aà the ReforyParey but rather on bohai o truth and dernacracy. butl1boeiAng the former helps Mr. Mo-Teag-ue skeep at night, so lot ih be. Wy unspeclfedu reprt le actually the July 31 Globe & Mail newspaper ln which Mr. MoTeague Is quoted as saying ho prefers ta avold a x nk Nali- -1contestln favour af erpresentinge Ns constituents ln Ottawa. The matter ai discussion ln my latter le not the. GST isel, but radier Mr. McTeagues continuai track record ai dauble-speak. Avoldlng a nomnination meeting would be acceptable If he truly wore representing us ln Ottawa. Duding Mr. McTeague's campalgn, Nis party promised ta abolsh mhe GST and Mr. Mo eaguemselt pramlsed ta have GST remnoved from books and amer pninted materil He led. Duulng a radio Interview with Roy Green, Mr.--Mleague sald he would stand by John Nunzlata by votlng with* Nm agansthis gavemment's budget on the GST Issue. When die ime came, Mr.- McTeague did.not have the gutslo stan up for the truth or Nis constituents. Once again, he Wid Asldfrom hNs govemmenrs promises, Mr.. MoTea e n, y tf durlng Ns campalgn stated that ho worked wlth, the Hleart and Stroke Faundatian and %'gBrothers. When It was polnted out before my own eyes at Hery Street Hlgh oolt thls was untrue, he accsWdthe young lady af worldng for the Progressive Conservatives. Sh. was a younq Uberal. Once agal, ho Beore rk. . MoTeague makes any accusaions, about My %uspect motives,!porhaps ho should remember' tat h l he whohaslRed alalong. hk. McTeague owes9 -bath myself and Ns contituents an open and public apology. 1 have proven my arguments as fact and ilm sonry if the truth hurts , k. -McToague. Secondly, lir. McTeague cWams tha he le a 'suocssful product ai the LUberai dernocralic procoss,e but may 1lpalntout b Nm ùthhs Is not Tro the editor: Tact and could b. consldered In 1993 the Addction Ofarcful.n Research Foundation (ARF) Térence Sohoftoma published 'Retail, Abcohol Whtby Monopolies: Preserving ths Public lnterest whîch strongly Stroemmended dieretention ai ste contraI over the disribti aiof beverage alcohol. The Rnoeth owlng ta the hsalth and social ai reSDOflSe costs assadiatsd with hts use, Igovemments and the pbi have a dIrect Interest ln To te edtor:ensuring that aloohal bo sold in To te edtor:a socially responsible mannor. The paper also documents Re: Letterfromi Dan MèTeague disepenences af jurlsdictions on the subject raised by thet have privatlzsd lquor Terrance Scheltema, latter, distbution systems. ln Finland, Free Press, Aug. 14 for exemple, the 1969 liberalization af alcohol lkm At the town hall meeting in resulted ln the openîng aof *March at the Whftby municipal, 2,000 beer outîets, leadlng toaa building, I raised a- question drastjc riSe in beer drinldng and whth Mr,. IMcTeague - and an increase ln overail alcohol proideddetalls on the subjedctconsumption. Between 1968 metter.-- and 1975 an, Increase in Mr. McTeague- took MY Flnnish, .per capita ebchol name and telephone' number>'consûmptoioai almost 50 per and ta date I have not heard cent was accompanied by a from him or hie office. 'm just 157 per cent jump ln deaths wondering what ho has been from .Ivwe rrhosls and a 67 doing on thîs Issue?- per cent- increaso in abcoal- 1Anglu* Smith relatod traMfc accdents. - Whftby -F msbâ n.Ie., MVA, AVA and alternatives By Paul Pagnuelo Is AVA really the wonder, drug which wtlI cure. the prablems .wlth Ontarlos property tax system? f sa, why thon are -an lncreaslg number af Ontario taxpayers reluctant to swallow this maglcal'brew? Is ht the Ingreclents, the side effoots, or the lure ofi easler ta swailow remecHes? How doos AVA (ýctual value assessmont),ciMer frorn Ontarlos present MVA (market value assessment) system In determlnlng-the amount o a te each property owner pays? Herels where a Utie hlstovy mlght help. The provincial standard for assessment used ta be based on actual value. Thon ln 1970 the province tookakver ths responslbllty for. property assessment from the munticipalties. The purpase ai this whole exercise was ta, brin ail property assessments ln, Ontau'lo ta a comman base usng current market values.'1 le there a dllference between ar-ualvalue and market value? Aoeordlng ta the .9upreme Court of Canadia, the answer Is no . Back ln 1974, R rùled that thymean the same thlng. By1978, the Ontarla govemment gave up on the kia aio a provlnceWld assessment system and moved ta a local oton' approach. Thisgae municipaM councilshe cocofupdatlng their, assessment base ar retalning the base valuation year already ln use., In the mid-1980s, ýthe provincial government began encouraglng reglon-wlde- ment lne parts of Ontaulo wfth t"ered local government. Législative, changes were made whlch empowered moat reglonal govemnments, wth .the exception af Metro Toranto, ta Iniate rnassessment f a dounty or reglonal government apts for reassesmenti the entire county or reglon goes an lta an automatic update cycle evey four years. OtherWise, the deison ta reassees stays with the local munldipalhty and there Is no automatlc update cycle. AVA le Utie more than flash ta the pas.hI simple terms, hit s an annual updaâte system whlch uses a computer model ta estimale property values and then averages them over a three-year perlod. Under AVA, %tax equity le a movlng target because k roquires annual re- assessment. Tax burdens shlft as mauke values move. However, there are arn-lime- only assessment alternatives Moere 'tax equity romaIns stable,. wthoutthe ,need for ongolnÏg-tak shit. lerael uses a, unit assessment system ln which the assessment le determlned by the physical dimensIlons of,- each property. Tax rates per square mette are policy-ased,' wth variations by bulldlng type and location. 1The- United Klngdom has adopted a sse hc assigns rosidential propertles toaone ofelght bandsof 1991 values, with each property in a band paylng the same level af tex Nan-resldenliai properties, on the ather hand, are nat banded but, lndMdually appraised an a 'rent-value basLs, vMth»,a llve-year re- evaluatian cycle. Callfomlia, whlch used ta b. on'an AVA system, moved ta actual, pri-c auisWton ln 1978. Assessment were rolled back ta. 1975 actual values, whh- a twa 'per cent- annual Infltion'factor. Assosements are frazon'unli the praperty seNs, at whîch lme the sai price becomes -the new assessed, value., In k»eednnmr*ilgful.,jeform ta the praperty tax system, Ontarlo had, ,several -frorn. Tho Haisgoverment has yet ta pravide a oonvinding aigument as ta wy Ih selected the -texollectors dream of AVA M ad ompletel nored pro.ven .-ane-tlmo-only assessment alternatives.. Paul PagneIo is à member >0f - the '.Ontario, Taxpayer,#s To thederaiitnr privatization oai wlne sales ln several U.S. states whlch have found significant Increases In bath wvine and averal acohol consumption as a result ai the elîmînatlon of state contraI liquor distribution systems. Tho papor also wams that while govemment mgnopolies can b. a partlcularly effective way ta maIntein reasorfable Imits on alcohol avallebllty and directly contraI the clmcumstences under whîch h ls sold, ln a free- market, by contrast, a commodty's- avà ' ett tnds taexpandta met he potntial demand., The expansion ta meet demand wauld beà af particular concemn should- an Ontarlo privatizetion sconaria follow the trend ai those in other jurisdictions, where'Increases li ths number ai outlets and an increase in, averail consumption af aicohol have been linkod.. This le not ta suàgest thlat privatesector --s" butors ai alcohol Ymuld b. inherentV - Irresponsible. Howee, kh l e rtelnly possible that fierce reail Competition, and the. existence ai cas"alor inexperienced staff worldng at #hesautits,ý could resuhit n fer the underaged and those who drink and drive. If the govemment Intends ta proceed with ths commission whîch Ih has lndlcated h IllM establlsh ta examýine the Issue, 1 would hope and expect that dis commlsslons mandate WIli not be ta merely dotermîne how prKvilzation le ý'ta b. Implernented, but whether pfivatization should takçe place. Ghven the, senous opposition already volcsd ta the concept afi privatization, f the commission -does not a=mmodate thle perspective h AI b. nothlng more than a sham tIoa flgtiize an ldealoglcalhpdrivon agenda that' blaantly disuegards the best interest af die people ai Ontario, MIR Slaughtor Whftby Step towardl savings One smalI, stop for the Durham Board af Educatian may prove ta b. a glant stop for the Durhamn taxpayer.. With the Durham Board af Education- opening hts new C.E. Broughton. Public School as a- year-round fadlty, diey have taken the ernali 'stop that could save Durham's property taxaors a lot af maney. TheyIvo taken the: stop diat shouki slow for the opn1go al Durham BoardaoEuato schools on 'a year-bong, four- semester systom. > Pupuls .wauld recelve a complote education -[w semesers per year. This system wouid allow Durharn (yOU and Q) ta phase out and selI or mothball 25 per cent af ths present schools; allow busy parentsota arge vacations at miore 'convonient, ,non- tradilional_ times; keep admInistrative, toachlng and janitorial staff worklng -for as much of- the year as thsyd ike wihout néeding government assistance or. competi.ng wih cther. groupe for- summer. taxpayors, af Durtu JOn aithe Opposed, to LCBO'privatization ýl7f- 7 77, '. 7 1 To tll(ý (2(-l i toi- To the editor: