1 WATERLUU CHRONICLE l The Waterloo t hmnldr Is puittistted I mm wednesday by the harm“ Group. owned bs I "YMetha Gmup 1 In" a sutrstdrarF ul Ittaart on] edotorsiwaterioochromcle m salestmwaterloochronivle C .1 composog6'twarerloochromcie r 279 Weber 5L, North, Suite 20 Waterloo. thuario N2l 31"! rhe new) 01 um k ululnnms are thor uvm and do um “cu-“duh Kenn-w!" llnm- oi the nrwxpapw bump Publisher hump Salem Ultram- A isorlal . Publisher 1hr “Lurnlmll hlvum Irwl‘ll unnw k tut. m thc hill-n HM utoulri In- sorrwrl wuh mmr .uidrms and plum: uumlu-I and wall Ir “urn-d In! m t mm y Ne, "rvagucd Iritcrs wall h' pllhlkhr'd mummm In.“ lu- mIm-d " Iv-nglh cu plc'au' hr hurl t npvngm m l4-llrnamllllhrv Inalrrmls whmmul 1n the. Puhlulwr and m I rpvod In! pllhllt any-n 'T'maMP. wnh lhraulhnr hut me puhllshn and ip. In mum mm- fn‘r'h rrpmdm C Ihrm In pnul rlnnnnn runlhrr'mms that mmlirag address n ?7% thor NI N, "rutAl \‘Valrdnn [IN NA HV Retail Sales Advertising Man-In. Ext. 230 Sales Eu. 123 1cm luau-4 \1,.r\1.|<w Sperm Prom-us Spat-I Protects Mp3�?? M. 623-720. Fat, 2m mm I [an ‘Hk'l Lin .: “an". IL-r'v'n'l‘wx r.- Editor. F.xc215 Sports Fdltor.Fat.22y lnh IIuII-.-r..‘:l snub": \n-I LII \r-nh I Ji,i-i),llllll Blair Matmesss I .u-vrk “allu- (hummus. Ell. 22 t I "uaaa" e‘llllln an. an “all sub-, I'm-mu 1ypriroou \u'ntn'l ttttb 2530 Fax 886 PM?†Letters Policy Far.210 ass: H35 mm "N 400 Gil-4 Tn minim-d I In Vlldlllul .'7 3m Niven lulu; Sales. Fat. 222 Nmma I 'u " lanm- lean a l Where there's a “W o -, 1 will, there's away I I appy New Year, everybody: It's great to he back in the saddle again. as Ullt' ofWaterlojs repre- scnlaIin-s on regional council. As a Waterloo resident and homeowner. and as summiw with more than just a passing interest in the doings of city hall, I am concerned about my tax bill. especially that part of the tax bill that cov- ers the city's portion of the total take. I have to say. 1 am somewhat alarmed at the possible city tax increases (if 20 per cent or even 40 per cent that are being talked about these days We know that the city is required to pay Clarita twhich owns the RIM Park debt! $l45 million over 30 years. over $4.8 million annually. However. the previous city council [oak care of $1.2 million of this by building the payment into the annual bud, get. That leaves the city with the difficulty of (any ing up with an extra $3.6 million every year. We could KNullnw this the hard way: raise taxes by 12 pef (out. which would provide the additional tax walnut-5 to make the payments (Jr. if this is [on hard In swallow in Ullt' hilt. we could phase in the tax increase uu'r, hay, three years. with taxes rising by about four per cent annually. Then thcre's the over RlMPark debt: $4.5 milliun for legal fees and the rust of the public inquiry. less whatever the previous council said it had already paid. which probably wasn't too much. Unlike the $145 million debt. which must be served annually for decades. this $4.5 million debt can be paid “ff quickly, If we did it in one shot, however. it would mean a onetime tax jolt of 15 per cent. which would be for one year nnly and would not become part of the base tax. It would be far better, I think. if the city looked "rn-house for the $4.5 million. I am quite sure that there are city reserves. and retained profits from Waterloo North Hydro, that could be tapped. We could borrow those funds internally. and pay them hack over. say, three years. This would reduce the cost of the $4.5 million from 15 per cent in one year to about five per cent in each of three years which, although still very unpleasant, isn't quite so painful. It would he nice to think that this pretty much covers RIM Park, but it doesn‘t. The facilities, beau- tiful as they are, aren't paying their way. There is operating deficit of $750.000. and guess who gets to pay for it? Three quarters of a million dollars repre- sents a tax increase of about 2.5 per cent. How dn‘we handle this shortfall? City staff must he told in no uncertain terms that they will have to swallow cost increases stemming from inflation (about 1.6 per cent). With a growth in overall city revenues of four per cent we will then have enough to cover the $750,000 RIM Park shortfall, plus pro- vide the library with the $150,000 it needs to buy hooks. and maintain other city services at existing levels. However. if the city uses that four per cent in additional revenues to provide more funding to existing programs. or to start new ones, the laxpay- pr will yet again have to pay extra for RIM Park. This should not he allowed to happen. So here's the bottom line. The payment on the $145 million RIM Park debt should cause the city's taxes to rise by four per cent this year land next ymr. and the next yt'arl. while the $4.5 million debt on WM Park “pr-IN“. should muse the city's taxes In rise by five Per rem this war (and to remain in the budget for the m'xl Iwn yt-ars]. Provided the city holds this line on other rush. thc rily‘ taxt's this yvar should rise by nine pr-r n-nl. Anything mnrr than that has nuthing m min with RIM Park and (an onlyr hr attributed In a round! that wmit pm on thc breaks by frvering hir, mg and rchrsing to "xpand services. This does, nut. ofcourse. moan your lax bill will rise by "inc per rem. lhe rity portion of your taxe, is alum! nnt‘ third. with tht, n‘ginn and school boards making up the ret. Provided those hodivs ran rnnlrnl thvir vxprnws. overall lax irwrease will hr managmhlr. I'Vl‘n if 1ht'y"re [ml prebtty. VIEWPOINT Mike Connolly Waterloo Iq ('v1llj'rl()()ClllurNlt lr, ' Whether you believe it or not, winters are becoming warmer. That's the eyewash the experts have been peddling. Judging by the weather so far, this has to be a major exception. Winter in when the mean temperature is, and January is the underwear time of year, When the Christmas bills start arriving. everyone has the shorts. Thin Choice: An election that doesn't mean much is the upcoming choice to lead the fledgling Conservative Pany of Canada. Former Tory leader Peter Mackay has bowed out, but Tony Clement, the former Ontario health minister, Belinda Stronach. the auto-parts tycoon, and Chuck Strahl, the former B.C MP, will be bowing in. Calgary lawyer Jim Prentice has already announced he'll be a candidate. And it's riot just because the" party is going nowhere in the next election. Which it isnt. Stephen Harper has flung his chapeau into the ring and he's going to win the lead- ership going away. The rest of the field will be folks trying to get their names established, As noted before, Harper will be the winner and will have to try and sew the membership into one of unity. As a feat nf needlework that will rank with keeping Barnum and Bailey's big top flying aloft over another set ofclowns. Oh yeah, the election will not he simple. Each of the 30l rid- ings has been given 100 votes. and points will he apportioned to candidates in pmponiun to their vult' within the riding. About the (Ink,r thing rnlsslng will he a voting machine with " \pnn' fur " Re marks". Thin Pickings: A left-leaning H'nIl‘l' has delivered a gloomy fun-cast of Premier McGuinty what has to nunlt' in trying to iuggie the province's finattres In make them rum? nut UK F,lection time? That was hark when both the Grits and the Pt A made improved wt vices and a balanced budget both sound within roasun The Canadian (10mm for Policy Allm’na Hum says ttw gnwrnmcm will have In both run a deficit and raise taxes if it has any intention of keeping an l-lm‘linn pledge to improve public services. Practising the art of diplomacy Now (-xpvnwx have otwrged from (“:er where and the premier has been talking up hard limes and looking askance at some of his past promises. So, as the newest analysis shows. he has the option of both running a deficit and rais- ing taxes. And most of the promises deliw ered by all parties should be put on the shelf. Thin should make for (mine real promis- ing when the next election is nigh. Of course, the PCs will have a new leader by then. But elections are so expensive. One tt.S. senatorial candidate has a couple million dollars and he's calling himself the under- dog. " nice to have four years between elec- tions. It takes people that long to regain their faith. h couple of million and he's the under- dog_._l_{qw_rnuch Alpo can he eat? _ High Test: Premier McGuinty. scalching for every dollar, is supposed to be eyeing radar on poles as the source for quite a few extra dollars. L" The dun made a nun! start on tD some current prohlems. Canada got the graham nn Iraq Humans. something yuu rnuldn't haw run-mud, And thvrc wasn't any squabbling uwr the. madfnw disease something, that will hr of little jay In vithrr (111mm: Bu! lhvy'll work togetlter nn it. It snumlcd good In-raum- Duhyah mid he's " fan of steak. Ile may not lumw much, Inn I'd giw him passing marks an fund. They made themselves rlmlpalahlc' on a numhl-r "father topics, lhe only thing Ihvy missed rould have been lhv big fuss "wt softwood 'lhe fart is Ihr president and the PM wer" practising diplommy Ihat's the art of saying lhings in siurh a way that nnhmlv knows manly! what yo" mt'an And many - better make that most - Ontario drivers want no part of picture-taking atop hydro poles as a tramc aid - good, had or indifferent.' Say, did you know that Detroit has Finally come up with a loo-per-rent effective anti- pollution device? Irs an ignition key that doesn't fit, Initial Triumph: Paul Mar- tin, our newly-minted PM, has scored big in meeting with George Duhyah for the first time.