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COPY 75¢ 170¢ + 5¢ asm) 28 Pages By Chris Hall Port Perry Star The proposed pay hike for Members of Parliament ~~ is not that significant after all the facts are put out on the table, says Durham's MP. Alex Shepherd, who represents Durham riding, defended the plan to increase MPs' salaries by 20 per cent last week by saying MPs have been underpaid for years now. He said salaries for federal representatives were frozen between 1991 and 1997, and that between ios and 2000 they, had only received : a 7 5 per cent pay raise." : Mr. Shepherd further explained that the average industrial wage hike was 22.2 per cent between 1991 and 2000. "If you look at the 20 per cent increase, 6 per cent of that is to make up for falling behind," he told The Star. "The balarice, the remaining 13 per cent, is to be Please turn to page 12 Cr (7° Where are our education taxes going to? By Rik Davie Port Perry Star Questions about where Durham Region's education tax dollars are going are being asked this week, after the issue was raised at a Scugog Township council meeting. Ward 2 Councillor Marilyn Pearce said last week that despite a promise from the province that education charges on property tax bills would not rise in 2001, some Scugog residents are in fact paying more for education. She said reassessment of properties, carried out by the province, led to the higher amount. A total increase as high as $228,000 is expected in Scugog Township, she said. The budget chief for the Durham District School "Board, Ron Trbovich, is left wondering where the bucks will go. "What I can say is that we are not getting it," Mr. Trbovich said. "While the over-all dollar figure for funds coming to this board appears to be up slightly, in fact there is no allowance for inflation, fuel prices or the expected additional students the board will pick up this year. Mr. Trbovich said that while an additional $1.5 million | in enrollment growth funds have been allocated to the board, a clawback of $2.7 million in OMERS funds will off- set the new funding. "When factors like total growth, inflation and other increased costs are taken into account, we are getting less in the long run," Mr. Trbovich said. Councillor Pearce wants some answers from the province. "They appear to be getting around this by talking about provincial averages," she said. "But the question remains: if the additional funds we will pay are not com- ing back into the Durham classrooms, then just whose education are Scugog taxpayers funding?" Gerrard Kennedy, a Toronto MPP and Liberal educa- tion critic, told The Star taxpayers have a right to ask questions, given the recent announcement of tax rebates for parents who opt to send their children to private schools. "No local control of education finances exists any- more," Mr. Kennedy said. "Funds not allocated directly go into the government's coffers." He said that no explanation appears to say exactly where unused education dollars could go. "There is, after all, only one taxpayer," Mr. Kennedy said. "So you have to say that public school supporters are paying for the tax rebate for private school users." Please turn to page 12 By ate wl all oll. - <u a Ir oa