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At the present time owners and tenants who improve their properties are immediately punished with a hefty hike on their taxes. As the report aptly notes, property improveâ€" â€"ment is met with enforcement and penalties rather than encouragement and assistance. Published every T.. ~sday by F.;;w Press. a division of Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo Record Lid.. 30 Queen St. N . Kitchener. Ontario. Address correspondence to Waterioo Square. Waterioo Ont. Telephone 7446164 4 Waterloo Chronicle, Thureday, August 27, "It is hard to encourage people to improve their property when they expect to be penalized for doing so."‘ The answer is ‘"a moratorium on tax increases arising from improveâ€" ments." 4 The comment is from a consultants‘ report on property maintenance and its relation to the environment, prepared on instructions of Municipal Affairs Minister Darey Mcâ€" Keough. Ad;;;-fion of this and other recommendations in the report would go a long way toward correcting some of the injusâ€" tices meted out to Ontario property owners under existing laws. The report suggests instead an explicit exemption from tax increases, imposed because of improvements, for a fiveâ€"year period. The maximum exemption would be $5,000 assessment on any single property at any one time. The report, described by the minister as a thorough inâ€" vestigation of properties in urban and rural areas of the province, took 15 months to complete. 1 P 1 & D00 0 0 D d d 2g2 PS e ® In addition to a moratorium on tax increases arising from improvements, it urges the government to make necessary loans available on a sliding interest rate geared to income in cases where an individual wishing to make improveâ€" ments cannot handle regular interest rates. Another recommendation worthy of implementation is educational programs providing handyman courses for all school children and extension courses for people wanting instruction in repairs and renovation. According to the municipal affairs minister, the study represents a major contribution to the creation and mainâ€" tenance of a vital environment. Implementation of its main recommendations would make that contribution effective. Recent developments in Waterloo are going to make it a little difficult for the amalgamationists to come on too strong with the old antiâ€"progressive and diehard catchâ€" cries. Some of the names reportedly connected with the Think Twice committee are synonymous with progressive thinkâ€" ing and astute business management, not just here but in the Canadian business world. _ Now that they have come forward to stand four square for Waterloo‘s independence, it is just possible that the prevailing climate may come through loud and clear. The proponents of amalgamation haven‘t yet come up with anything like a good reason (from Waterloo‘s standâ€" point at least) why the Twin Cities should amalgamate. The "whys" are all answered with "why nots?", which seems a poor basis on which to make any decision. The loudest amalgamationists are reminiscent of the political followers who always think their party and theirs alone will make a sweeping victory. They never move outâ€" side their own set to see what winds of change are in the air. It makes for a placid life, probably, but oh, how dull‘ The fullness of fall is in the air these days and, with its approach, groups, organizations and clubs will be reâ€" convening after their summer break. The Chronicle is more than anxious to give as wide coverage as possible to all the local organizations but can only do this with their coâ€"operation. If those concerned would call us at 744â€"6364, we could work out the details to ensure the best possible coverage for each~ gr(;uf) Organizers of minor sports activities are included in the invitation. Opposition grows Tax break urged SUBSCRIPTION RATES In Canada : one year $8; in United States and Foreign countries: one year $10 Member of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association Keep us informed Philomena Rutherford, editor ESTABLISHED 1854 Last week this column set out to reply to a reader who wrote to the letters to the editor column of the paper last month deploring the lack of information on this area available to outâ€"ofâ€"towners. He explained his efforts at some length and ended with a reâ€" quest for observations about how he might accomplish more easily what had cost him considerable time, effort, frustration and numâ€" érous phoneâ€"callsâ€"all at a dime a time. He sounded as if he could use some help but three weeks later none of our readers had come up with any offers. Always ready to jump in where angels fear to tread, I devoted a longerâ€"thanâ€"usual column (and suffered sourly if not gladlyâ€"the scathing comments of colleagues about my longâ€"windedness which I hoped would be a capsule guide to the sources most accessible at offâ€"beat hours to any visitor in any city or large town. They were all ones I bad tried and tested myself and not found wanting. I did specify that tourist inforâ€" mation offices were not at the top of my handy reference. If I deâ€" pended on tourist information ofâ€" fices for guidance, I would still be lost womewhere back in the mountains of a green and misty island that shall remain nameâ€" less. Some tourist information and the people who dispense it are better than others and by all acâ€" counts Waterloo chamber of comâ€" merce comes well within this catâ€" egory. But, like I saidâ€"about tourist information generally, all the inâ€" formation in the world, even the best, isn‘t any good if you can‘t lay hands on it when you want it. If someone who has never been in a city before, whether it be Watâ€" erloo, Toronto, New York or Kalâ€" amazoo, arrives there on a Friâ€" day evening after the local tourâ€" ist bureau has closed down for the weekend, he‘s a fool if he sits on their doorstep until opening time Monday morning to find out how he should best spend his time. It seems logical he should hunt out the information he needs in the meantime and that was what the col tried,to come up with. The per¢on se letter started the whole g was taking a sumâ€" mer course at a local university and as such might be expected to be occupied during normal office hours. That was why it was sugâ€" gested he might try libraries (which do not keep office hours), policemen (who keep all sorts of hours)â€"a â€" telephone â€" directory (which is usually handy) but most of all a local newspaper (but then we said enough about that last week.) Philomena Rutherford‘s Bits and Pieces Allan Schendel, president of the Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, feels the column was unjust to the local chamber, in that it made no mention at all of the local office, which is situated next door to The Chronicle. There was no intention of slighting eur neighbors. The writer of the original letâ€" ter sounded a little sore at chamâ€" bers of commerce, admittedly, not Waterloo‘sâ€"but near enough to home for all that) so that suggesâ€" tion mightn‘t have helped. Anyhow, the chamber president says some of the nice things about the local office that the column should have said and all of them are worth repeating. _ He refers to it as one of the most obvious sources of tourist information and writes in part: "‘The bffice is manned five days a week by two highly qualified and knowledgeable people who are extremely anxious to be of serâ€" vice. Mr. Turner and Mrs. Cranâ€" dall perhaps know more about places and things in the City of Waterloo as well as the surroundâ€" ing environs than most people who have lived here all their lives. The beautiful part is the fact they tell the Waterloo story just for the asking. I exaggerate not when I tell you they handle hundreds of enquiries each year. 40 YEARS AGO Aug. 28 The Kuntz Brewery Company of Waterloo was included in the merger breweries this week. The new company will be known as Brewery Corpotation of Canada. The Litt family reunion was held at Sebringville, among those presâ€" ent at the event was Rev. J. G. Litt of Waterloo. A new drug store will be opened next week by LR. Devitt in the Commercial Hotel block, which was recently bought and renovatâ€" ed by M.B. Shantz, Twin City real estate broker. 30 YEARS AGO Aug. 30. The national registration in North Waterloo last week producâ€" ed a total of 42,502 registrants. A little more than 10 percent of this total are men eligible for military duty. Of this, 403 are from Watâ€" erloo The Twin City schools will start classes the first day after Labor Day. Both Waterloo and Kitchenâ€" er Public School Boards defied the orders of Ontario Premier M.F. Hepburn to delay school opening until Sept. 17. Files of Yesteryear ‘"Upâ€"toâ€"date maps of the city are available. In the literature rack at the chamber office visitâ€" ors will find interest maps for most noteworthy places in the city, district, province and many places outside the province. Our chamber people can tell you where £0th where to sleep, where to play, where to pray, where to look and where to relax. **You should know that our secâ€" retaryâ€"manager on many occasâ€" ions has served as a tour guide for business groups, fun groups, church groups and just folks inâ€" terested in seeing our area. Durâ€" ing this past week this is exactly what he has been doing for the people of the Christian Endeavor movement who are holding a conâ€" vention in our city. "The chamber office is there for your use as well as any other person requiring information."‘ I‘ll be the first to concede that all this is indeed the case and it‘s good that a prominent citizen takes time out to say it. But the fact still remains that the other alternatives suggested last week will be available in most places at hours that chambers of comâ€" merce here or elsewhere are not accessible. And that was the kerâ€" nel of last week‘s comments. A proposal by parks commisâ€" sioners Chris Schondelmayer and Robert Hackney to bill the Watâ€" erloo Musical Society for expenses incurred by the parks board in connection with the society‘s band festival was turned down by the board this week. 20 YEARS AGO Aug. 25 The Waterloo Lion‘s swimming pool on Silver Lake is almost comâ€" pleted. o . The Waterloo Chronicle will be moving to new offices at 13 Erb St. W. next week. The phone numâ€" ber will be the same. Clayton Dozert, Waterloo postâ€" master said that the first class mail is moving despite the rail strike. All first class mail is goâ€" ing by air at regular postal rates. 10 YEARS AGO Aug. 25 Waterloo council decided not to take any immediate action on complaints concerning goâ€"karts racing at Waterloo arena parking lot. Residents of Waterloo‘s Blueâ€" vale Street North asked council Monday night to ban trucks frorm using their street. The trucks were causing too much noise and preâ€" venting children from getting adâ€" equate rest.