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Put hold on $221 million budget It will be mid-April before Durham taxpayers know for sure how large the tax bite will be for Regional purposes this year. After a long and at times con- fusing debate last week, Regional councillors opted to put the $221 million gross budget on hold for four weeks in order to get more information on how much gar- bage disposal may cost Durham this year. The request to delay formal approval of the 88 budget came from Oshawa Mayor Allan Pilkcy - who issued some dire warnings about the potential for an even higher budget to cover increased costs of garbage disposal. 'The relationship between gar- bage disposal and the 1988 Re- gional budget is a complicated one. Basically, Regional council has approved already an increase in the tipping fee at landfill sites from the current $18 per tonne to Vol. 122. No. 18 $50 per tonne, the amount that Metro Toronto charges the Re- gion for garbage dumping at a Metro owned dump in Pickering. However, Durham is expect- ing that the Metro Toronto coun- cil will agree to a $28 per tonne rebate to Durham which effective- ly would reduce the tipping fee to $22 per tonne. But Metro council has not of- ficially agreed to that rebate and Mayor Pilkey said last week that if Metro council turns down the rebate for Durham and charges the full $50 per tonne fee, this will throw the whole Regional budget out of whack this year, and could, he said add a further seven per cent to the tax increase to ratepayers everywhere in the Region. "We (council) don't yet know what the real costs will be, and we should delay passing the bud- get until we do know," Pilkey argued during the budget debate in the Regional council chambers March 23. "The budget presented to Re- 44 Pages gional council for approval March 23 calls for an average tax hike in 1988 (for Regional purposes. ed equalization factor system, the net tax hike varies among the eight municipalities throughout It wasn't voted the fastest, but Matthew Bram- ham's Corvette was judged first for best Design by a Cub with adult help in Sunday's Kub Kar Rally held at Port Perry Legion. Matthew, 8, who is In his first year of Cubs, and his father Mark worked for about one month designing, carving and painting his entry for the annual Rally. For more photos see page 10. Jazzmerize ensemble wins Gold and Silver Jazzmerize, that outstanding vocal jazz ensemble from Port Perry High School, has added a couple more feathers to its musi- cal cap. The group of nine singers, backed by its own musical sec- tion, all under the direction of Charles White, turned in two gold standard performances, plus a sil- ver, at the Ontario Vocal Festival held last Saturday at O'Neill Col- legiate in Oshawa. Director Charles White was delighted. "The group gave a very solid top-notch performance," he told the Star. Competing against some 65 other groups from Ontario high schools, Jazzmerizc carned the gold medal standards in the combo class' a mixture of jazz and tradi- tional choral literature, and for the performance as a traditional jazz ensemble. The silver standard came in the combo jazz sextet class. Mr. White told the Star that by virtue of the group's strong performance at the Ontario Festi- val, Jazzmerize has been invited as one of the groups to represent this province at the National Mu- sic Festival to be held May 17-23 (Turn to page 6) Durham. (Turn to page 14) only) of 7.3 per cent. But because of the complicat- Marilyn Wood shows off a dazzling body-hugging dress, while Heather McCrae wears a more conserva- tive, but equally attractive, design--both from Coun- try Classics, one of the participants in the upcoming Spring Into Fashion show, a fundraising venture or- ganized by the Catholic Women's League of Port Perry. Featuring a variety of fashions, the show gets underway April 7 at the Catholic Hall. Happy Easter It's a little earlier than some years, but Easter arrives this weekend, and with it comes family gatherings, and store closings. The Star would like to inform its readers their offices will be closed on Friday, April 1st for the Good Friday holiday. Regular Satur- day hours of business will be observed. i We would ask all of our contributors and advertisers to submit as much as possible by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 31st. Although some institutions will be closed on Easter Monday, the Star will be open, and the normal 12 noon deadline for material and ads will be in effect. | Have a safe and happy Easter!