local dancers geTtheir chance td shine on US. talk show/Page C? '"mtt.00rutuetaxutg, Meeting Maury _ Q ity council approved Monday a three-year budget that will see a 3.61 per cent increase in property taxes in 2008. City taxes going up 10 me cent over next three years The increase works out to about $30 more in taxes per household. Council also set a 3.33 per cent property tax increase for 2009-2010, which will see taxes rise a lit- tle more than $27 annually over the next two years. The tax rates were based on the municipal price index. which is the based price of keeping the same level of services with infla- tion factored in, said Court. Jan d'Ailly, the chair of the finance committee. "This budget as present- ed reflects business as usual," he said. There were some big changes from last year, how- Council approved a five- year fire plan that will see the hiring of a chief training officer and Fire prevention officers, along with the Minds . rrriiiAG -e kGAomeDtcot 35b Sassy Drive at Manitou Kitchener 519.893.8687 _ (Ween Homer Watson and BhhdsAgye Us Gm: WALD Chronicle Staff WW, mm) IJ', 'qirTrrMrTrm.rrreer."rW..rWP.rl'r""eN""vr-"'W-F"-'s"r"""-"'e"" W. -e-_i" -e"e - ,, _ umummummmuwmumwmwmmmmmmpnmwnmmomm nuns-tum.“ummma.mummmvmummuwummnmmmmum-nan mmmâ€"mnmummunIâ€"mmmmmmuâ€"wwruuunmmumMun-n:II - F- A A_A_A..._.A‘._ ..__._.._..._.__._..__‘..._....‘._. 'irrUtTriaiaTii"iarii'aii 2iaiiaTaii “I..." ii,iaG GFiaGaa Lk aa. .immumunmm nun-v“ mssâ€"a-unc-um-wumo‘m‘mmam-Iqï¬afm‘agyumw " uuwummn-nwn- nmmunvm an, ty-r-trr- tM-'"'..'-.-". BOXING . WEEK SPECIALS ALL MONTH mmnrrm-urwmunummumvmxstlmvuimv-uwmwm Sumpvvmau 'MWMW - _ -. _. .L, .-----e-rm-a--.-.m-.--.r-r.-.--rurdgmt, refurbishment of Station One near Weber and Univer- sity streets over the next five The dollars to fund the improvements will come mainly from the expansion budget, instead of from a proposed one per cent tax hike that would have seen the plan implemented over three years. Councillors also opted not to adopt a proposed capital infrastructure rein- vestment levy, a one or two per cent tax that would have created a fund to bankroll repairs to the city's roads and facilities, Instead, council and city staff will find a minimum of $500,000 a year in savings by 2010 to put towards a new infrastructure fund. The money will come from redistributing funds from the operating, expan- sion and capital budgets. But that could result in deficiencies elsewhere in the budget, said Conn. Mark Whaley Whaley is worried about umt1rsuedorsp- Mt Dr. Jodie Wang MD Lose Inches Tut-Univ.“- No paln, no down time. Booking now tantalum 519.578.2828 2008 OUTBACK Rigging-IQ»?va nun-nut Uptown resEurant featuring locally produced food on its menu/Page 18 Going local Laurelwood public school Grade 8 students Laura McCuaig and Jared Bileski. both 13. took part in the school's Week of Giving events last week which included collecting food, baby products and winter scarves, mittens and hats for the needy. e students at lau- I relwood public school weren't thinking about their Christmas wish lists last week. Instead, their focus was on collecting food, baby supplies and more for those in need. Br [mm 0mm Qhrgn icle Stafr Local students focus on giving instead of their own wish lists 95ka tow " ma '334" Ask about our Subaru Canada Price Commitment LEASE FOFt bt SECUI‘WV new . " 796 WWW â€Vim . “I "CHINE "lt feels awesome because we know that someone else is going to have a nice Christmas dinner," said Grade 8 stu- dent Laura McCuaig, l3. The Week of Giving, which ran from Dec. 10- 14, has been held for nine years. although this one wasdifferem. "All of them have taken different shapes, but I i 6.5+ 21020 surar-aiGm-uru- The Nutcracker Annual holiday tradition returns to the Centre in the Square/Page 24 would say this year has been one of the most suc- cessful as far as product and ideas," said teacher Tracy Weber, the event's organizer. The school came up with catchy names to help students remember what to bring each day. On 'itunchkiri Monday, the school collected baby products. Toiletry Tues- bat-mn-rt-ttey' “on .aumm I." man-burns: an! 'mme-ttrs-ro-tet-tAt mum hum’lulhdI-m-nnm- uni-unannoun- EFFECTME LEASE APR DOWN“!!! 10.1T day was a day to bring in toothpaste and shampoo. Woolly Wednesday saw students donate scarves, mittens, hats, socks and underwear. Teddy bears, school supplies and books were donated on Thoughtful Thursday. And on Food Friday, non-per- ishable food items were collected. 26 Manitou Drive Kitchener, ON Tel: (519) 894-2050 Toll Free: 1-877-2874?844 Join our e-club www9rminirnotors.com Continued on page In GEMINI MOTORS Think. Fool. Drive. SUBARU [m MON PHOTO