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c 14 stouffville suntribune thursday feb 2 2006 1 1 i v 1 2 rising fees pricing some families out of competitive sports built for life h canada tested to 40c driven through hundreds of kilometres worth of snow and icy roads coldweather ready from the fuel systems to the seat warmers advancements in traction control and powertrain refinements offer improved performance on snow and ice all because every ford vehicle line goes through extremecold testing before they ever get to you add allwheel drive to extremecold testing and youve got the ultimate winter vehicles 2006 freestyle sel awd 2006 five hundred sel awd 2006 escape xlt 4x4 2006 explorer 4x4 eddie bauer 33909r 31919ik 249l5 39909 per month 36 month tease 4995 down or equivalent trade freight 1 200 0 securrty deposit 3 0lv6 engine 17 aluminum wheels automatic 4wheel disc abs traction control remote keyless entry power windowsdoor locksmirrors air conditioning amfm6cdmp3 player message centre fog lamps 6way power driver seat per 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canada i wise buthb read tffi legal copy offers vasd in the wince of otfeortyt3seariew2036fadrvehvji rate of 15l5ffl909 and a 36363624 monfl lease tan fad cnxh to qualified retail lessees on approved ere from ford credit total lease cmgattai is i6479i292917193ji4571 optional buyout is 18 771j17 003s20 331527433 some conditions and a mileage restricted of 6o00o6o0xwoo4ox0tonw rroims payment and wsecuiry deposit recweim 2006 lhii march 31 200t secuily deposit rr temperatim dealer may lease for lesiljrrfledtmeclta ontario fda po box2000 oafofe ontario l6j 5e4 by lisa queen staff writer a teenage boy decked out in a baseball uniform steps up to the plate waits for a pitch and swings for the fences except just as the bat con nects with the ball the scene changes to the same youth using a club to smash a car window the powerful message of the united way television commercial is clear get kids off the street with positive activities and theyll make you proud leave them idle and who knows the trouble theli get up to its a message in which york region recreation associ ations believe strongly but those organizations are crying foul complaining increasing user fees to rent municipallyowned baseball diamonds hockey rinks and soccer pitches are making it unaffordable for many fami lies to enrol their children in organized sports do you want a child tax sports are part and parcel of keeping kids off the streets to me everybody benefits said dirk drieberg vicepresident of thevaughan baseball asso ciation and board member of baseball ontario he is upset vaughan adopted a new policy last week hiking user fees with lit tle warning or consultation with teams theres only so much we can go back and say to par ents if you want your kid to play a sport you have to keep anteingup politicians sympathize but say theres not much they can do about it vaughan and other municipalities already subsi dizes fees they charge orga nized sports teams mayor michael di biase said at the same time munici palities which must balance their budgets by law are fac ing increasing costs for labour utilities and pooling expenses the controversial fees municipalities in york durham halton and peel regions must contribute to pay torontos social costs ifs only logical to pass a portion of those costs on to teams mr di biase said if i had the 30 million in pooling money we sent to toronto i would allow as much as possible especially for youth free access to pools free skating and subsidize var ious sports organizations i would be the most popular person in town he said but with municipalities left with only two options to raise funds general tax levy and user fees the mayor said options are limited the taxpayer is already burdened with a large amount i think it needs to be a fine balance and thats what were trying to achieve mr drieberg don mck- night david corraza and stan pagonis have been coaching and organizing children and youth sports teams for years they recognize why municipalities charge teams user fees which teams pass on to participants but they insist those fees are getting out of hand we see the loss of a lot of children from teams every year said mr mcknight trea surer of newmarket baseball and president of ontario baseball associations i certainly think in some cases it may be the fees some people if theyre going to cut back on something that would be the first thing to go while many teams and municipalities offer registra tion subsidies for disadvan taged children some families are uncomfortable admitting they cant afford the fees hes doubtful the incom ing conservatives promise to offer tax credits to families who enroll their children in sports will help arguing it will be a headache to administer mr pagonis president of richmond hill baseball said user fees used to make up a sliver of municipal budgets today he said they often account for a third or more he wants councillors to look at the bigger picture arguing it is in societys best interests to keep children physically active and involved in positive activities domenic taccone a 12- yearold newmarket boy who plays on a house league hock ey team and house league and select soccer teams believes its important for youngsters to play organized sports i like playing sports because on a team you get to play with some of your friends and meet new people he said adding he also enjoys just hanging out with his friends playing street hockey or skateboarding even at his age domenic realizes the financial cost to his parents to enrol him in sports for hockey i always wanted to be a goalie but the pads are costly he said adding this is on top of the 300 or 400 registration fee i understand my parents dont have that kind of money so im happy where i am now playing forward at a budget meeting last week mr drieberg and mr corraza general manager of thevaughan panthers hockey club complained about the citys new user fee policy the benefits of childrens organized sports justify using tax revenues to prevent user fees becoming unaffordable mr corraza said if somebody asks you do you want to use general taxes to keep kids out of the malls out of the parks loitering my answer is 0611111161 are we here to support our youth or do you want to make it a numbers game wmaiaiatttaj8aagrnmmsugas