A4 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday June 19, 2002 Region wants tax breaks to encourage rental unit construction By Richard Vivian SPECIAL TO THE-; BEAVER Affordable housing initiatives received a shot in the arm last week, with numerous developer incentive programs being inves tigated by Halton Region. Members of the Halton health and social services committee approved a multi-tiered motion that would see the federal and provincial governments lobbied to reduce taxes for new rental units. Local tax relief incentives may also be coming, with Regional staff set to investigate the possibility of a new property tax class specific to rental units. "This is the first step toward the future. It's a big step and it will be a challenge." Halton Hills Councillor John Day told the committee. Additional consideration will be given to the reduction or waiving of regional development charges (DCs) for rental units. While generally supportive of the motion, several councillors expressed uneasiness about changing the DC structure. "Eventually, everything goes to market rent. That's just the nature of it. People will either jack the rents for the second or third generation tenants or flip it as condo units," suggested Oakville Councillor Keith Bird. `This is hard to do unless the buildings are government owned. Rent capping doesn't work." Stressed Councillor Rick Malboeuf, "We can't go back to collect those DCs." But if the DC structure is altered, there will be legal con tracts drawn up limiting the property owner's ability to raise rents or sell the property as condo units, responded Adelina Urbanski, Halton's commission er of social and community serv ices. "Staff will be monitoring those units with an annual review of rents in those build ings. It won't be just `here's the money' and hope for the best." she told councillors. With affordable housing money expected from the feder al government - funding for about 400 units in Halton was announced May 30 - Regional staff were also given the duty of pursuing up to $2 million in land purchases. Land purchase money will come from the social housing reserve fund. Purchased lands will likely be donated to private and non-profit partners to lower building costs for rental units. But with the funds coming from reserves, Burlington Councillor Jack Dennison point ed out its the taxpayer who's subsidizing these units. "It's just another move toward increased taxation. Commercial, residential and industrial taxpayers are provid ing these over payment dollars to subsidize these housing units," Dennison said with dis appointment. Regional council has yet to address the committee recom mendations, but is expected to discuss the matter today. Glen Thiessen · Special to the Beaver GUESS WHO?: C her (Terry Stevens) and Marilyn Monroe (Shelley Moyle) were two of the many celebrities at The Stars Come Out Tonight Client Appreciation & Charity Event for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation last Wednesday. The event was held at the Sanctuary Medispa and the Institute O f Cosmetic and Laser Surgery, 1344 Cornwall Rd., and raised $1,200 for breast cancer research. GETMORE FOR LESS m 486328 While quantities last. Phone scam operations require little equipment (Continued from page 1) com plaint and snow balled from there," he said. E£l PSC 950 ALL-IN-ONE · Colour printer, scanner, copier, fax · 600 dpi optical, 36-bit scanner 470711 Coupon Code: 9858300000000000 invent PSC 750 ALL-IN-ON E · Colour printer, scanner, copier · 1-year manufacturer's warranty · Refurbished Our Price Instant Rebate Price" -100.00 599.84 After Rebate 499 84 Bellamy said this and other similar scams are very fluid, meaning they require little equipment and can be moved from place to place. In this instance, police allege it operated out of homes in both Oakville and Mississauga. Bellamy said the United States was chosen as a target to give the perpetrators more distance from law enforcement and to help dissuade victims from pursuing the matter. "It makes it that much more difficult to find them," he said. Bellamy said the public needs to exercise caution when tempted by anything that seems too good to be true and to ver ify everything. Charged with fraud over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit fraud over $5,000 are Ronald Peter Austin, 30. of Oakville, Natalie Marie Sibilin, 24, of Oakville and Sean Ryan Persaud, 23, of Mississauga. fa tu ity D e n tis try ZV. K ristina Pcrc has relocated and is welcoming patients in her new office. SHARP UX-P105 PLAIN-PAPER FAX · 10-sheet auto. doc. feeder · 448 KB memory · 50-sheet paper capacity Our Price Mail-In Rebate Price After Rebate 471986 k 'w*149.85 -30.00 For a p p o in tm e n t p le a s e call 9 0 5 -6 0 8 -14 4 1 OR. MARIA WAS1AK AND ASSOCIATES 310 5 WINSTON CHURCHILL BLVD. SUITE S#s*> Panasonic KX-FPG175 PLAIN-PAPER FAX W ITH 2.4 G Hz EXTREME HANDSET · Dual bilingual LCD · 12-minute bilingual TAM · 14.4 kbps high speed modem 473964 SINGERS SUMMER WORKSHOPS 2002 119 85 379 82 VQ Do you wonder what it would be like to be Brittney Spears or part of N 'SYNC? WIRELESS CLEAROUT EVENT C H O O S E A C E L L U L A R P H O N E S T A R T IN G A T JC1 Mitch Scekins "pop" vocal teacher of Juno nominees and winners like Hawksley Workman and Emm Grayner (singing with David Bowie) can help. PLUS many others at clearance prices! / lU D io r o x The 1-week intensive workshop deals with: J vocal technique J vocal warm-ups J vocal care j coaching J mic technique J song selection PAGEMART AXCESS CATCHALL PAGERS Workshop Dates: July 8 th - 12th, 2002 August 12th - 16th, 20002 9000 · $0 after $50 activation credit on 1-year term k 470394 443496/ 443497/443498 N O K IA Not available in all stores 29 97 M V S M U SIC Call: (905) 827-6444 5165 · $0 after $75 activation credit 448115 * ito * <K !· 9>At?OKm)X St 0 V. S 2 C U > NAPOLEON )r\ow\e O c-ov^-fort FIREPLACES ·BARBECUES ·FURNACES ·AIR CONDITIONERS ·PATIO FURNITURE ·ACCESSORIES Panasonic TX210 O ci & . . cut V SM ) 1- 2 s :)o.. '4<Zt J * ^ a- yiii? « U'-- j · $0 after $75 activation credit & $50 mail-in rebate on 2-year term 464080 B EA T T H E SAVE to 1 4 7km 5· 8" 3" 6-- 9« - ,0- L -- J ' Phone assortment varies by carrier coverage area. Not available in all stores ' * 4 0 0 *o « Selected Carrier Air Conditioners Fil Available! bizSmart saves you money with no fee daily business banking. When you bank with bizSmart. you? NEVER pay eny fees for your daily business banking again. That moans no fats for withdrawals, deposits, bin payments, plus your cheques are free. We «*so offer credit dectvons m seconds and i no fee business Ime of Credrt. if you want big savings for your business, talk to a knowledgeable btzSman Business Associate or cell 1 - B B S - 2 7 3 - 3 T O O b lZ S M xrSouiiCiMm« rw * A R T ir*sn«iBaBa STWtil BkWieti Deoensoie c m *MTwciureMflrtf*. DflC Valid June 19 - 25 or while quantities last. Not all items available with delivery or online orders. QEW at Dorval Drive · 210 North Service Road W. · 2460 Winston Churchill (at Dundas) B R A M P T O N 1250 Steeles East (East of 410) · 80 Great Lakes Drive * 2937 Highway 7 East M IS S IS S A U G A 1530 Aimco Blvd. · 5900 Mavis Rd. HOURS Mon-Fri 8AM-9PM Sat 9AM-6PM Sun 11AM-5PM OAKVILLE STAPLES B u s in e s s WW W `Som e conditions apply. See store tor details. O.A.C. Visit Our Website At: www.napoleonhomecomfort.com DEP©1 .businessdepot.com Oakville Town Centre 300 North Service Rd. West Oakville iE 3 B (905) 844-1223