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16-Champion Country Tuesday February i 2005 You've Got a Friendl/Fa rmers up in arms over tax Rodv Sfio~, R~açh~aiçç I DON Friendly, Courteous Service in a New "State-of-the-Art" facility 875-3208 885 Main St. E., Milton Units 7 & 8, Main St. at Thompson Rd. t'e -assessmeîiis; iear neity niKes Churchili Collision >q:' Trupstar TOR IVOfMZLN Nutrition & Fitness Centers i te "I have more eneîgy and drive, and Ifeel like I can accomplish anything lpzit my mmd to." - it'flr'Z4 No,'ak Become the ukimate you ni 2005 total licalé with 3O-minut~ oerdse nuttitional counacllng pfofcsslonal welght Ion uupplcmcnts ptoFesulonal vitamina free personal ~oach menu, f~ckguawagfl~ AIfoe eue iw prlcd CALL 310-TRUE 1) 'i i \î I )ercs .iiîd ()uîtîriîc www. truesta r. coin By ROBIN DOWNTON-POIRIER Special to The Champion t uc.il bciî se tamîeî s are angry .tnd trusîr,îîed wîtb tas re assess inelîts b> the Mcinicip.il Prcîperîy Assessîuent (I'uipuratiun 1 MPAC>. ss tb îoany luukîîîg lu sdI their prîpeoles ancl elcuse theiî businesses because of the change. Jane Casîleman. ossner ut Cainpbellvitte's Toucb 'n (ici Fami. says that altbougb she bas nul received a lax notice yeî. she expecîs ber business Ici be greatty affecîed by lIte MPAC situation, and may soon be lorced Ici shut ctcîwn. "Ocîr business is smaîl and we've downsized ~fi 11k pasl year lu make lite a titîte casier. but Ibis ntay lorce us Ici close aIl together," she noted. "For now, I have a lot ut readîng material Ici go tbrough and înore researcb lu do." Ms Castîeman bas owned Toucb 'n Go Farm lor 25 years and says that n btndsighî she may nul have chosen borse seîîing as a career, but now that she is invoîved il bas becoîne ber way of tife. She added that depending on bow mucb ber taxes increase, she M Th.r.'s a orne In 500,000 chance ef winning tii. loft.ry. At Herbai Magie, wlrnne.'s are guarant..d. M A1I.c~ cci~c.c.c cO S5&c.ciRIc~oZ~ccc.îmcs ~' 15 MartinSt. 905-693-9594 l1,',cd.,c c' i,,.i.cc 'J may bas e lu t md surnettiing cisc 10 clu ~ Ibm uic equine t îetd. "Ils craiy for us lu he taxeci tur a oay ut lite' satd Ms Casîteman Ottici biirse t airo uperalors aie cbuusing iii 1)111 the tax issue asîde ujîtit they'ie dîrectly affected. Sue Gillespie ut Peîîîîylane Farm n nearby Freettun says that she basut received a re assessmeîît notice yet and duesn't know anyone that has. Althuugh she knows ber horse boarding business may be re-assessed in the future. sheil be ready lu tight the notice and, tuî nuw, isn'î going lu gel upsel about the situation. "I dont personally know anyone yel that bas been affected by the tax assessments, SO l'm flot going 10 worry about il yet." saîd Ms Gîllespie. "If and when I'm affecîed, l'il have my back up and l'il be ready lu fight them. Ils ridiculous." Over the pasî few years, MPAC bas re assessed some horse businesses like equesîrian and nding facilîties as commercial properties instead of agriculturat, and bave adjusîed the tax rates accordîngly. Horse businesses such as training and breedîng are deemed as agrîcullural use and are taxed aI approximaîely 0.3 per cent. Those properlies that faîl in 'grey areas', according 10 MPAC, are aulo- maîically defaulted 10 commercîaî use and are îaxed aI a rate of approximaîely four per cent. Ms Gillespie says that the Ontarîo govemment doesn'î seem lu realîze that horse busînesses are nul aIl highly lucratîve venlures. and that many are already sîmggling 10 make ends mccl. "Il usuatly takes a second income from oulside tbe farm 10 keep the farm going and the govemment doesn't sec that," she stressed. "AlmosI anyone n Ibe borse busîness, wbether Il be boarding, nd- ing. training, breeclîng, or wtîatever. o fi Il for Ibe love of the ant mals. luit Ibe small amount cd money il brings in. In Augusî 21X)4, the Association of Ridîng Esîablisbmenî tARE) Cîîmmîîîee ssas creaîed lu tigbt the tax re-assessmenîs. The cîîm- mîttees eu-chairs. Jîm Waechîer and Leslie Brooks, a busband and wife team, hacl their property re assessecl and receivecl a tax notice tur SI S.lt(t(l see FARMERS on page 18 ~.I. ['kif' I i~'L'1'.U I BAI liN'] ['