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( 0 . rooWýkJY IflMes, Wedn-sýday. Ocçtober 28, 199ý8 J Celebra tes 75 years Sunday afternoon's ceremony, included the ribbon dutting for the recent hall renovations. Cutting the ribbon are, (left to right) George Rickard, Melody Massey and Mayor Hamnre. books that were published, some ofwhîch are in the University of Toronto library today. The family came to Canada in 1973. They lived in Cobourg, Toronto, Stoney Creek and Scarborough, before seftling 7n Newcastle in 1988 and took over the local IGA Store. For the last two years they have been looking for a place to expa nd and finally purchased the former J. Anderson Smith property. Construction has finally got underway, and Tenzin gave a good outline of their plans. Willie thanked Tenzin for his presentation. Chairman Willie introduced Mr. Merv Bowen,-Regional Assessment Commissioner for Durham. Mr. Bowen has been in the assessment profession for 34 years, having served in Ottawa,, . Goderich, Scarborough and North York before coming to Durham 10 years ago. Prior to 1970, assessing was the responsibility of the municipalities, but as municipalities amalgamated, the advent of town houses and condominiums, it became much more complex, and the province took over. Because assessments varied greatly from municipality to munici- pality, in order to move to a more equitable form of assess- ment and taxation, market value assessment was intro- duced. Over the last 27 years only two thirds of over 800 plus municipalities were re assessed. Durham examples, W hitby, in 1942; Oshawa, in 1960; Ajax, in 1978, and Clarington in 1980. The recom- mendations of'the "Who Does What" Committee chaired by David -Crombie, was that prop- erty assessment should be con- sistent across the province and based on regularly updated property values. Key recom- mendations were, the use of ticurrent value" as the basis for assessment, being more under- standable for the taxpayer; a common assessment date for all Ontario municipalities; a simplified Appeal Process, tax rate replaces the mil1 atez; and safe guards to prc,î '<.- low income Seniors and ---ibled. 155,000 Assessmeny -Notices were mailed to property own- ers in Durham Region in February. The appeal period has been extended to Oct.30. Requests for Reconsideration will also be accepted for 1998 taxation until Oct. 30. Willie thanked Mr. Bowen for his excellent presentation. (Continued page 10) Food for thIougyht! I Sharing a HeaWvther FutuF. MEIEtALA*W Nigel Julicher steered his soap box derby cart over the finish line in record time. Julicher's clocked the best time of the day at 3 5.47 seconds. kÀ Clubs ' Orqranizations Newcastle, Ratepayer 's Chairman Willie called on Ruth Bonathan to give a brief report on Brenton Rickard. Brenton who suffered a. mild heart attack while travelling on the -Island of Crete, is coming along quite well and is expect- ed to fly home on the 27th . A memo was read from Councillor John Mutton, regarding complaints of exces- sive train whistles in the vil- lage. Due to ongoing construc- tion on the line, and because of one fatal accident, the train operators are beîng sure that the contractors be aware of approaching trains. This will continue until the end of October. Further complaints will be given conisideration. Chairman Willie introduced Tenzin Gyalstan. Tenzin gave a brief family history from when his father, Norman, fled to India his home in Tibet. There. he taught, Tibetan children, met his wife to be, and wrote some B B S ----i