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After plenty of debate. York Region decid- ed against pulling forward a position on Mctmlinx's ximnl'u»! of n'vcnuc tools. Newmatkct Regional Councillor lohn Taylor suggested the region should at least t'xpn’ss support for ")0 Idl'd of new. tit-di- mted funding sources to suppon transit and transportation infrastmcturr expansions. while also making it clear additional property taxes wert' a not an option. Ht- pmptm-d sending a nwssagc In trans. pnnalion planning body Metrnhnx and authorizing York chairperson Bill Fisch to act on behalf of the main!) an the manor during the summer council break. Members of wgional council were split on the idw. with most amusing new wwmu- lubls am mum]. but also mph-mun; doub! Regional councillors lukewarm on Metrolinx ideas BY SEAN PEARCE 5pc’un (Wi'lnlgw um the legions Input wnukl haw any (11111 on Metmlinx‘s investmcm strategy document. which must he submittvd m the pmvinn: by Saturday. Mr. l'isch was slu‘ptica] about how murh impact the rcgion's comments would have at this «tag ' and \llggl‘fifl‘d it may be best for ruunt'il In wait and we whirl) Hmls end up in the final report. "We actually had a similar report befurv us wht'n I was nn the Murnlinx Imam! fnur yvars ago and WP had a dN'us-mm on whk h WW‘IIUC’ tonls we felt were most appropriate.” he said. "I guess that rcpun gm buried." Hml said. Mr. Huh had no wsnc with ummil unfurnan lemlinx ml “'4 summn fur rt‘vcnuc tools. in general. and the need In invest more hvavily in transit. Vaughan Rz-guuml ( ‘uum‘illur ( Hun Rman. huwcwr. had reservations about oversigm ol the funds they wuuld generate and also Metrolinx’s ability to live up to its mandate. He agreed something needed to he done. but worried things could go off the rails in the event of a change in govemmem. for example, "If wv dun"! dn this right. we'll be paying mun' hum. with wry little in rctum." he said. i [he majority of council members. includ- ing Nt'wumrkt-t Mayor Tony Van Bynen. agrmxi and added two more options to the “no” column. Markham Regional (Duncillm Gordon land; I mh'iwd caution. while Richmond Hm #vgmnul (huncillur Vim Spalafora xm-swd property taxes were of! the table. “W- do mod to do somctmngf Mr. Van Hym‘n said. “anwvr. payroll taxes. new prupcrty taxrs and fare increases an? non- Markham Deputy Mayor lack Heath (emphasized this point and (taunde not doing so could simply lead people to make large purchases. such as automobiles. out- side of the Greater Tnmmu and Hamilton Ama to avoid thctax. In the end. council rejected Mr. 'I‘ayior’s amendment on a 10â€"9 recorded vote. A number of council members expressed support for a dedicated sales tax. but Geor- gina Mayor Rub ( :mssi and several 0! his col- leagues stipulated it mus! be applied provâ€" Markham Regional Councillor lim lanes stated his opposition to penalizing drivers with tolls in the absence of more options and sugested some funding already set aside for roadsmddbebetterspemonexpanding pUblk transit. ~ stamens for