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.will have to 22 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, March 14, 1989 Region slaps 95% hike on lot levies Developers scramble to beat increase Begianing April 1. don eginning April 1, developers $5,770 to the Region for eac ing unit they build. That does not include the fees required by local municipali- ties. This hike of 95 per cent above last years' figure has caused many builders to scramble to get their Polos approved before the dead- ine date. There are several subdivision proposals which will be forced to pay additional fees of as much as a half million dollars if they cannot meet that mark. Durham regional council heard several petitions from business Sepieseniatives at their meeting on arch 8, concerning possible le- niency for their cases. The council and Works' Staff remained tough on that issue and ined a deaf ear to their propo- S. The council did ease up and provide the firms with an opportu- nity to get in under the wire if they could have all the necessary approvals and documentation into the office by the end of the week. They also dropped a controver- sial "A and B" list system which was being tried for the first time this year. Regional Staff will be given an opportunity to examine the plans, and the legal department will be able to give final approval to the draft subdivision agreement. To achieve the April 1 dead- line, the authorizing by-law must be passed by council in the next meeting, March 22, 1989. We are growing -- Local businesses are benefiting from increased customer traffic. It m business base for the community. We are buildin business, to provide Canadians with reliable, accessible and affordable postal service. Canada Post is in rural Canada to stay. in partnership with the community More rural Canadians are enjoying increased access to postal products and services through retail postal outlets in their communities. This is happening in partnership with hundreds of local businesses right across the country, in a variety of ways. In Whistler, British Columbia. Two new retail postal outlets, operated by local businesses, have opened this year. The new outlets complement the services offe office. They are the first step to improved service in this rapidly-developing community. "The response from the customers has been fantastic. It's working out well." -- Harry McKeever, Operator, Retail Outlet, McKeever's General Store In Rose Bay, Nova Scotia. We have another link in Canada Post Co postal outlets. This time in 2 communi ided by a retail postal outlet established postal code." op convenience store is a good arrangement Dostal services." all the necessary That's a promise. red at the Whistler corporate post : rporation's growing network of ty where for two years, retail service was not provided through a corporate outlet. Retail postal service is now provided in partnership with a local business. "1 feel that the postal outlet here is a great step in the right direction to service the people in the area." -- Sam Emmons, President, Rose Bay area Board of Trade In Ste-Félicité-de-Ulslet, Québec. A retail postal outlet is now offering postal services and * products in a community where no post office existed before. "In addition to the services prov in a local business, we now have the benefit of our own ' -- Jean-Paul Pellerin, Mayor, Municipality of Ste-Félicité-de-IIslet In Lewvan, Saskatchewan. A retail postal outlet is now open to serve customers. The outlet provides customers with access to postal products and services. These services have not been available locally for four years. "The retail postal outlet in the Co- -- they support each other and it : : -- Larry Davis, Councillor, Rural Municipality of Wellington, Saskatchewan . eans a better and stronger g local partnerships with the community and A final condition is that all of these subdivision developments must enter into the subdivision agreement prior to July 1, 1989, The main consideration, for li- miting the number of applicants, was the time required to process the applications and the current heavy load on the regional staff. But staff agreed to work the over- time needed if it would help. This would allow a non- discriminatory processing of all applicants based solely on whether they could meet the time require- i CANADA POST CORPORATION Our commitment: better service for you. from the 19 ments, regardless of which list they had upon. Although council informed the industry, through UDI, in No- vember, many were seemingly caught unaware of the magnitude of the increase. For non-apartment dwellings, the total levy has increased $2,815 level of $2,955. The $5,770 breaks down into $2,420 for water supply, $2,133 1 for sanitary sewage and $1,217 for roads. The region based the increase on rising costs for these services. They need to receive some of this revenue from developers so that it doesn't need to come out of the pockets of all taxpayers. The costs will likely be onto new home buyers, but it will not impact on current us- ers. Levies fough on builders In Scugog Township, the cur- rent lot levy 1s about $2,200. Land severances are forced to pay the full price every time, but subdivision developers can occas- sionally donate parkland to the municipality in lieu of $1000 of the fee. What this means in terms of housing costs is that a new home built in Port Perry will cost $7970 (regional levy + municipal levy). before property. changes hands or any construction begins. To many young couples, this means that their downpayment will probably go directly into the governments coffers before they even begin to work off the "real" costs. In addition, the Ontario Mini- stry of Education has proposed that an additional levy be imposed to assist in the financing of new schools. The rationale is that new sub- divisions will require new facili- ties to teach their children in. To avoid burdening residents of esta- blished communities which have adequate school buildings, these _ costs will be left to new residents. They will be able to pay this fee upfront as it will be incorpo- rated into the inflated cost of their homes. While no ific figure is be- ing mentioned, the Durham Re- gional Board of Education is in fa- vour of this plan in principle. There is a lingering concern that the Ministry of Education wants to use this policy to justify cutting back on its funding levels by as much as 15 percent. The Board is also concerned that the Ministry plan calls for a joint fund between the two coter- minus boards in the area. They would | prefer io sce the boards managed separately. The Durham Boards' recom- mendations and comments have been forwarded to the Ministry of Education for review. A decision on these levies will likely be made later in the Spring. Port Perry Star ADVERTISING DEADLINE MONDAY - 12 NOON Real Estates - 5 PM Friday 1