'Fown spent more monev -How it al BJASON MISNER the Champion The Town of Milton spent a record aMount of money in 2002 to do every- thing from operasing recreational cen- tres to hiing firefigisters to paying count- eilors' expeases. Andi that recod is likely to be broken a few tirnes yet. Financial statemnents, a liné-by-line accouas of wbere money is spent, show it took $25.4 million asat year to rua the Town. TisasaMount inclùded $1 million tise Town gave ta tise Region for across- thse-board services, wbicis bas since been reimbursesi. A $122,OOS surplus will go toward this year's battomn lime. T he Town's expeaditures - or bot- tom lime cos - bave been increasing steadilY since 1999. la 2001, tise cos were more than $23 million; in 2000 they were nearly $20 millfion and were asome tusa $17 rniion in 1999. The Town basiealiy stayed witbin ita projectesi budget for 2002. Treasurer Jim McQueen said tise Town's cMOof doing business has been sbarply rising because of gmowth. isere seemns to be no way of escaping it. Growtls bas becomne a commuon themje as Milton experiences unprecedented isousing andi industrial developmnent. "Eacis year there are more kilomnetres of roads ta mnanage, more parka to deal with, more progranas ta offer a growing co'DmunisY,' Mr. McQueen said. These changes require ail kinds of1 tiigs, like increased technology -a costly service in itelf - to make things run better and smoother, more snow- plows and trucks and more fuUl-timie ftrefighters. Milton is currently serviced by a mnost- Iy part-tumc fir departiment, but mor fuil-time firefigiters are expected as tise town grows. There are currently 60 part- timers and 25 fûli-timers on staff. About 40 per cent of last year's bot- tom line was paid for tirough property taxes. That equases to almost $11 mil- lion. Mie reat comnes from sources like user fees, for swimming as an example, plaainin~g application fees and building pernits. Ail of these growsispressures leave tise town in a bit of a tax pickle. These isscreased services corne with a cost. Sa tise dilenm sat how mucis do taxes bave to rise in order ta maintain thse services. Wr McQueen said prelisninary stalis- tics show 2004 taxes could rise as much as 12 per cent and 19 per cent in 2005. -These are just assumptions," Mr. McQueen stressed, noting staff wiil came back witb more defitive tax increase projections by tise summer. Residents were bit wisls a 2 per cent tax bike tiis year, amountiag ta about $550 on an average-assessed home. Mr. MeQueen said tise next few years wili be a busy one for Milton. la its 10- year forecast, tise Town estimases it will seil about 1,500 building penaits annu- aliy, as welI as 750,000 square-feet in business space. Bring in your empty cartridige and we wili refi it while you hop! or Let us show you how you can save even more with our easy to use RefiL Kits. Ail major brande, supported (Lexmark, HP, Canon, Epson, Brother and more!) So stop throwing away your car- tridges and start saving oney toay! We also carry HP glossy photo paper, a wide range of compatible and OEM ink jet cartridges and remanufactured laser toners. Ail producta and services carry a full 30 day money back guarantee! Our kiosk le located at Milton Mail 905-876-0011 Bring ln this ad and receive 10% off your first refilîl InSoe Spcias ** e..d Mss For a limited time get: e 15% off the first refil f an OEM cartridge purchased at regular price. e $300 off your purchase of HP Photopaper when you refuli! *specials are available at Island nk-Jet, Milton Mail for a limiteti time only. The Canadian Champion, Friday January 24, 2003-8 Clarificati*on-- bv the lossnofo Milton to upgrade its Web site. Il should also be noted tisai the money is funding tise Town's other electronie services. The best start ii sehool Tise Town is broken down mb f ine cas- egonies: Mayor and council; executive services (whiicis includes animal control and licenc- ing); corporase services (like isuman resources>; general governmens (like taxa- ion); community services (like parks andi arenas); planning and development (zoning andi building inspections); fire departmens; library and downtown business improve- ment association. The moss costly group to mun for 2002 was community services, to tise tune of $10.9 million. There's a isuge drop off after that, with general governmens costiag $4.2 million tise second mots expensive of the lot. Meanwhiile, town council stuck to its budget of $227,357. The Town also has a slew of projeets - a lot of tisem roads projects - expected to be completed by tise end of tisis year. They've already been approved by council. Others include: - Restorations to Mili Pond, costing $776,583. - A new twin pad arena to be built as tise comner of Commnercial and Denry roads, costimg $1 .9 million. lt's sciseduled to open in September. - Replaciag tise tire depantment's tanker. truck (it isoids wtaer). costing $245,000. Sh Il I I i /WCYJ I.n the absence of Canadian law, abortion on demand is available during ail nine months of pregnancy using these methods: suction, dilation and curettage, saline, prostaglandin and others, e.g. "partial birth." <.1 in 3 (37.4%) women undergoing abortion have already had one or more.* *300 abortions occur each day in Canada.* e 20% of abortions are performed on girls between 10 and 19 years of age 4, One abortion increases a woman's risk of breast cancer, depression and suicide. *An Ontario study of 41,039 women during the three montis period after abortion reveaied that hospital patients had a more than four times higher rate of hospitalizations for infections, a five limes higher rate of "surgicai events" and a nearly five times higher rate of hospitalîzation for psychiatric probiems than the matching group of women who had not had abortions. %% Many women who have abortions feel coerced or pressured 10 do so by their boyfriends. ,6 Abortion was legalized over thirty years ago, before ultrasounds and medical advances introduced us to babies before they are born. *36.6% of abortions occur under 9 weeks* gestation when an unborn childs heart is beating, brain waves are detected and ultrasounds have shown themn waving their arms and legs. t 49.5% of abortions octur at 9-12 weeks* gestation when the child also has fingerprints, urinates, squints, swallows, wrinkles is forehead, sleeps, wakes and exercises. 4 9.6% of abortions occur at 13-16 weeks* gestation when the child aiso has fine hair, is 8"-10" long and tan hear. *4.4% of abortions occur at 16 weeks gestation to full-term"* when the unborn child tan also be startled by a sudden noise and could survive with proper tare For Crsis PrgnancyHelStatl 1.80.665.570do fo e inoraio al a - g ** -Lie O0563.332 mb»- i 1 m i Junor ineraSen to Ga St.John 's-kNimamockoffm lte vety bet inaodemks. The Lower School provldes: *Small class sizes and caring teachers *Specialist reachens in music, French and physical education *Oppomauiries for extracurrcular activitres, clubs, sports teams and performances JOnusoJeqLJO/03a Lower5c'iog openliaus& Drpbrbetweeyjand 7p.re.to yewourdom.uJme ourteaders Tel: (519) 648-2183 www.sjkschool.org L.ssed cgHu-vo , heweeKsScemnd GAuelph foeeprinI»0d3 - limited Si Jhn'sKlmanock