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economist suntribune i t t rw around the region thursday jan 312002 19 politicians want to know wa 84 million sent south is being used for jpcal mpp pledges to 9b- push for review of pooling system by j mitchell staff writer vvjiats toronto doing with your money thats thequestion beingposed by york region politicians who last week endorsed a budget that sends almost 85 million pf local taxpayers- money to the big smoke s jts called gta pooling arid its a sig- nificant portion of the regions 12 bil lion budget this year york region will con tribute 848 million to the fund estab lished by the province in 1997 to help toronto handle its costs for social housing and welfare it is also a thorn in the side of york politicians who are tired of writing the cheques for a fund they say lacks accountability the reality is were not going to be able to pinpoint where the 84 million goes regional chairperson bill fisch told councillors but regional politicians are looking to find out when the budget came up for final approval coun cillors passed a motion call ing for an explanation of pooling fund disburse ments im sure its spent wisely butwe dont have any say on how its spent said richmond hill mayor bill bell who is a consistent critic of the pooling system and the amount it drains annually from york region mr bell said even the province which administers the fund has not provided specific information on the ways in which money is spent the province serves as sort of a conduit for the money he said the wayne emmerson whitchurch- stouffville mayor says theres no accouritablity for transferred cash scary thing is they dont seem to know whitchurchstouffville mayor wayne emmerson called for the report he said it is a requirement of responsi ble government to be able to account for the expenditure of money raised through taxation this years regional budget for instance tracks every dollar including more than 426 million to be raised in taxes when we spend money we have to account for where those dollars are spent mr emmerson said if we dont ask the province of ontario in a for mal letter or a formal reso lution were not doing our job that 848 million for pooling is onefifth of the money raised through taxes in york region this year police costs eat up about a quarter of the tax levy at 1035 million while regional programs are funded by almost 219 million from ratepayers the response from tax- payers though may well go like this what took so long im surprised york region has been sending money to the province or any where else without knowing where the money is going said frances daversa president of the belvedere estates ratepayers association in tm surprised york region has been sending money to the province or anywhere else without knowing where the money is going ratepayers association president frances daversa frank klees we should re- address the issue of pooling says oak ridges mpr woodbridge there should have been accounta bility from day one regional politicians have an ally in oak ridges mpp frank klees who has pledged to press for a review of the pooling system at queens park i am one that quite firmly believes we should readdress the issue of pool ing he said i dont believe its appropriate that york region residents foot the bill for a fund they have no control over mr klees said a review could lead to solutions ranging from a better system of reporting on how money is spent to an alternative method of funding torontos social programs i think at the very least we have to have accountability mr klees said there has to be a mechanism where by the regions have some say in how those dollars are spent want to lose weight now just ask me how safe guaranteed results wwwezybodycarecom the debate leads ms daversa to question the roles played by the provincial and federal governments and whether or not they are fulfilling their fiscal responsibilities everybody just passes the buck to someone else she said what are all these federal minis 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