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i 2 vwv4 ilr 04 smutfviubaribun fametroland commuhity hewspapi h37 sandiford bn suite 306 stoufmllel oril4t7x5 1 r publisherf ian prbudfobtv vvgeneiiyfemralvinbrouwer c r edytbwnhief advertising difer bsiit rdg d brendalarson debraweller margaret fleming regional editor x cllssified manager brian kirlik stephen mathieu office manager vivian oneil s editor tracy kibble distribution director barrygoodyear v j a 3 v- s i a v j vjedttomal vtregionigiulci fight to lend tax pooling r you cant blame peoplefor being angry about being stuck with property tax hikesbf 300 ormore particularly when businesses facing similar increases because of reassessment lid get a relief package last year l v but the residential tax deferral program approved by york region councillors last week is the fairesf solution possible without more cooperation from the province it allows tax deferrals for homeowners who are disabledbr senior citizensearning less than 23000 for asingle persorf qr40000 for a family and facingatax hike of 300 lor more i owners whoqualify to pay interest on the deferred paffof their taxes uhtifdec 31 2005 and theh pay interest ata ratefof primeplus ci5 per cent theplan will help asmanyas9 150 hbme- owners whoave been wt hardby the provinces t actual value property assessment scheme but for agfoup of property owners who attended i last weeks regional council meeting it isnt enough they wantedall large tax hikes to be phased in over three pr more years similar to the plan available to s york region jbusinesses vbutthe problem withthisstrategy isif you phase 4 in tax hikesjjyqtf also have to phase in taxreductions s y s homepersare entitled jp a tax cut because their homes were overvalued in the past its hardly fair to ask people who have been paying v too muctfin property taxes for years to wait another three veafs for the problem to be addressed ithe region has donewhat it can to reduce the impactpf steep increases on the people with the s- ttv doug devine premier pushes hot button as election call looms h letters to the editor councillors failed to hear concerns of residents extra ice pad- and many other positive developments suggested a meeting to discuss- antianythihg or pjoanything arguments i could be persuaded to attend and at leastlisten however hwy 404 is a reality and lake ontario mississauga and oshawa re joan ransberrysxolumn like it br nofi its democfacyat work 23 i agree that councillors are elected to present us create a situatioh for nortllem however when the voiced concerns ifjepebpleareeard loud and clear but slaters pool is now gone and the and ourcouncillors choose tc ignore library is too small them then there has to be another way us retum to lq3 batfle a referendum on the- poollibrary stations l issueouldhayebeenverydeyocratic let us exert some control bf our edu- butpbviously too expensive y caii6n re wd economic devel- however each councillor could have contacted their constituents by letter opmentas the whitchurchstquffville area absbfbs some of me necessary and inevitable growth jl ebrillinger- l stouffville attacks are rare arris wants to scrap young offenders act screamed the a headline in tuesdays toronto star free more cons wardens urged federal goal to boost releases by 69 this year read the headline in tuesdays toronto sun in other words while premier mike harris is trying to put more teenaged criminals in jail and keep them there longer prime minister jean chretien is handing getoutofjailfree cards to thousands of hardened adult criminals this isnt the first time harris and chretien have been working at cross- purposes but itspietty easy to figure out which leader is heading in to an election its also not hard to guess which one has public sentiment on his side even if much of that sentiment is somewhat misguided in keeping with his talent for find ing and then pushing the hot buttons for ontario voters harris seems deter mined to make crime gangs and disre spectful teenaged punks a major cog in his reelection campaign ignoring the fact crime rates are continuing to plummet across the province harris is planning to prey on the publics grow ing but unjustified fear of crime he is calling on ottawa to scrap the young offenders act since he has no control over k the federal law and replace it with one that lowers the age to 16 at which teen criminals are tried and sentenced as adults n prosecute kids under the age of 12 the yoas current minimum age for serious violent offences v make jail mandatory for teens cpn- s coyote population din rise in york victedpf weapons offenses although harris proposals will help satisfy the publics thirst fpn a crack- lived in r major cities j down onyoungcrifninalsitsdebat- coyote populations are indeed able whether they wifl t have any real liberals young likely frqmyderirigfree j t make many bf these very changes v s no longer thedays qflarge farm- of course harris isfully aware of rejjoransberryscoiumnitef vviu hve to adafjt arid be m6re tolemnt aiuj work feb 23 e wildlife thatcansurvive our pres atwhitchurch- ence he had something to do with it much pres as theyre giving him credit for nortii i- americas booming economy reeardink as pointed qutfiriithe stbry by dan i v provincialliberals may want to ndfbverau y- lobby their federal colleagues tbhurry- ici ir j and revise the yoa in the hopes of 5 humans are extremely rare tdougan taking some wind but of harris- aritp into office yownerbout5ppyear4j vl ailowsobrowpli i wm foroeyorkregionresidentstqpayformemr rh i- jhe stouffvnie tnbune published ewtuesdayjliursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing i i dllhllchincr artti niffnhntmrt imiftnun nf mailnruiiv uihijh lnitittatr tha atavdiabarinri mau arltiartiear publishing and distributing ltd group ofnewspapers which includes the ajavpictering news advertiser t atiiston heraldcourier barrie advance barrys bayjhts week- bolton enterprise brampton guardian v v burlington shopping news burlington post city parent collingwoodwasaga connection east york mirror erin advocatecountry routes etobicokeguardian flamborough posvgeorgetowh independentacton civfree press kingston this vkbnojwsweekmarkharn economist sun midlaridpenetanguishene v mirror milton canadian champion milton shopping news mississauga news newmartetaurora georgina ontario press council canadian circulations audit board member markham crime sails before they carry him back js s into office