Pm» 6. Wltby Free Pies, Wednesday, May 22, 1M9 ~M The only Newspaper'owned and operated by Whîtby residents for Whitby residents! MEMBER 0F: s Canadian Communit Ontario Community Newspaper Association Newspaper Association ISSN#0844-398X -Whitby Whitby Business Oshawa-Durham Home Chambeèr of Commerce in Action< Buiders' Association Pu bseder y Wed Ahb r yesy bya677209 Ontpblandc 900 Hopkins St. /Box 206, Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-61,il Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Donald G. Hinton - Sales Manager Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% recycled content using vegetable based inks. L Ail written material, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the express permission of the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadian copyright taw. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution shoutd bear a credit line to the Whitby Free Press. GetFAT To th. editor: Re: GTA tax reform Wrnlci wAffaire Mnister AI Leach hae madeý clear hie intention ta change the property tax syetem iln Ontario. H. favours the acusal value aseesement (AVA) systemr ove.' the mark« vWue asessment (MVA) that has been tumned down by Toronto residents., or the exlstlng mess once cailed the patchwork market value (PMV)., Cal Rl whigtC want (WYW), bt one seeme o a bad as another. Why canl theee people think ln simple terme? At one of the Golden revlew panel- meetings, a presentation wae, made by a consultant (whose name shah b. ilient ta protect the Innocent) ln f avouraofthe AVA systemn as 1instaled ln Vancouver. kt was aiea t.led and thrown out -in another dity somiewhere ln Europe and was about ta b. tried ln a third clty In the middle est. included were visuel aidstuat only added ta the baftlegab and &"uWs-peak af the =resetaibui. YI ou dldn't understand -yuwere %aly confused alter. It becamne clear that kt was an excellent system ta use when the taxpaye was ta be kept unaware of how the tax was acéuady arrlved et. Mà ny people would juet give Up and pay the bil. The remnainder were dhe grist for the consultant. Fis fées could represent the helght of th. confusion, and h. wouid become, weaithy as a tax consultant. H. wouldn't aven need ta undèistand haw It worked as long as h. could spew out descriptions and formulas that nabody understoad, but h. had gained from a four-hour course et the University of B.C. (UBC). If Mr. Leach iealiy wants ta contribute ta cieating fair property taxation in the Greater Toronto Aiea (GTA), then he should consider fair assment,' taxation (FAT). kt aperates an a level of Grade 2 arithmetlc (what was used before mathemâtiCes) by Mng each property a real velu. si would b. based on the figures pubished by the'real estae boards ln Ontario. An averuaehoue.onacommon-,1çt has.1 a certain value. ln a specific aiea. If a houe. or lut le bigger, Its valuation le greMtri A condJo or apartment has a speclc vaue and thetis the basis of the property tax. The assessed value le multlplied by the tax rate (one and aniy one for residential) which gives the tax ta b. pald. (For example, $1 50,000 limes one per cent equals $1,500.) k le the sarne whether you Ive In, a cando on Front Street or a houe. on Liberty Street. commercial property would rocelve slmilar treaiment. The meal value of the land, and Improvements mukbe muWWe by on. tax rate of throe (retail, industrial, faim). (For example, $500,000 limes 0.5 per cent equals $25,000.) Companies wlth the same value of pboperty pay dm. same. Simple le as simple does. The Irst move would b. taget th. system ln place. There are no shoflafge ai estate appresers avellableItaasset ln ch=ngngthe rstem. Mkotathem ie agents wth extensive ime aviliable. They are tre lnkisimple arlth ei.hycan drez al estate prope'i Once theFAT system le Installed, then the progressive' step o? removlng 1h. education tax from property tax can b. accomplshed. Education wl then b. funded from tax an incarne and on business prfiswhlch le a ftire.' system. Mi. oec ould calli t "cuttng the FAT." Let's get FAT forever. Don Young Ajax To th. editor: In Ontazlos heahth care sector, k has taken pears for the workorce ta become property credentiaied. Then, afler 1he workforce -becarne credentialedR klook rnany.yearsfor heakh C; workers (a lar-ge percentage a? them women) ta earn a bing wage. Now, as the health caie syetem face a fundlng crunch, on. solution elgmpiened wlthout much To th * to. One school system To the editor: Afthaugh i have not had any Invoivement with our sohools for a number of years, i flnd that 1 amn becoming increaslngiy upset when i constantly read about the probiems ln aur educatianal systems. ln My opinion, most of the prablems can b. ikened ta those found in govemments, hospitals, the miiitaiy, and wvery other publicly funded organization on. can think-ai when, durlng the waffluent" yearsaf the Trudeau and silmilar administrations, the values '0f leadership were tassed aside' ln favaur of 'management - by objectves.m Mony seemed ta grow on trees and expensive committees were formed at wvery turn af the road ta look at problems which they invarikiy epanded ln order ta justify their awn excistence and further eniarge their awn empires. Rt stnikes me that schaol, administrations, sohool boards and sohool trustees have been on. of the largest contuibuters ta the excesses 0f the last 30Oyears. The final straw that caused me ta write this letter was the article, 'No vote for non-Cathalice lncouncil elections,' ln the Ma y 8 editian of The Free Press. This Intolerant appch taken by Durham separate baard trustees has ensured that 1i wl redirect My schoal taxes ta the public system next year. 1 have beleved far a number of years that aur constitution needs ta be amended ta provide for oniy one publclfuded education system for al cf Canada.1Iexpeotthat someday it wiil happen, once we find some comman sense leaders who wil estableh samething- along the foilawlng iUnes: "One publicly funded system from cost ta coast. Religlous and private schools could carry on as they wlish, but at their own expense. 'Al provinces and territarles would select one representative wha wauld sit on a permanent national school board chalred, by one federai representative whase sole purpose oudbe ta administer the board's decisions. 'Memnbers of the national board wouid put- forth, the educatianal concerne of their particular ~rovinSefterrftory an an continuai ais t Wouid not be an easy, task, et lest Inialiy. but- they viuId be respansible ta e.ventualiy -reach unanimous agreement an matters such as esabilshing on. set of educational standards, one standard teaching system andone standard set o textboksfor alilsubjeds., They wulaa be responsible for establishing one standard tim"etal far ail subjects, including a daily penaod for religiaus, or other aPProvedi humanistlc studies. These perlods would be canducted on a vokJntary basis by appraprae relgbus or other recognlzed spiritual or cultural leaders. The sessions, athaugh deslgned for prayers and teachings ta specifl groupe, would be open toanai students ln order that should.they wish ta "sit In,% they wuid gain Insight into other religions and other cultures. In sa dolng IIt wouid be hoped that ln years ta come, most students wouid become.much more knowledgeable and more tolerent of other religions. The national board ioulb also establsh one- standard for ail examinations, and appoint a team af chief 'Inspectars who would> be responsible for overseelng other Inspectors ta. ensure the, above standards were being achieved. Educallonal needs are in constant change. For example,* a new textbook might - e Yaund ta be superlor ta the on. now being used. The new text wauld first-be-studied byprovlncaterritodal authorities and If a simple majority of these authorities agreed, the text would then be passedon ta the national board.-for final ýdeliberations and adjudicaton., Ail other matters whlc h had a direct effect on teachling wouSd be treated ln the sanie mannèV. These ýare- only a few -o? the considerations, and responsibiHdties that waouki have ta be decided upon. But f something alang these Unes We!reýtpbe, lmplemented tRal then bë possible'for a. youngster ta mfove thany ohrplace InCanada et any ime of the- echool yéar and know that shejhe le golng ta be able ta take up almaet whiere she/he lot off ln their previaus echool. In the pastasit le taday, fk le a tremendous upheaval for astudent ta have ta chage cholslnmldterm, evenîln hIsher own province. When they are requlred ta mave t'a.a different province, the change can often be catastrophlc; i know from personai ee rience.1 Týhe -other main point le that provinces and local school boards ew>uld dli be compieteiy responsble for th. limplementatian and flnanclng of. ail physical concerne such as wages and platoertomI-hi own georaphica l reas.Bu hopefulite standardization of ail matterscoceing the basics o? an y educational eystem, ýi.e. the teaching Of Ouirchlldren,' would b. largely removed .from the no.w nwAeley layers af bureaucracy .that are smotherlng ,it ta death, bath flnandialiy and poitcaily. William St.wart »Whftby outcome thought le "tLers de-ekhli heakth care workers, hure les quallfed health care workers." Health care workers get educated and quallfied in aider ta give oui communides a qualty heafth car. system. Has the Impact o? these heafth car. changes been thought through?' Who le dolng the monitoring? Joan Gales,, RN Vice president « OPSEU, Roglon,3 To the edftor: Some .ligenlous. parents have already flgured aut that by enrollng their, childien in the modfed calendar en C.E Broughton Public SchoolIin Why, they get a month of freday camp iAJgust Adthai comne September, those children wi be enrolled back In theIr home school. Durlng the mfonth o? August modified calendar - students ii create sports eVents In which they wiI patcaeIn' Oymplc Dar' along wit a cniç' at a local conservation area. Three days wil be spent on site aÈ 'the- Pickering Village museum where students wil particpate in such acffles as oaklng, woadworklng, blacimsrnthing, gardenIng and sheep-shearng, the highilght a com roast where parents are welcome taoiMn. Ouldoor educaition wuI ne a foaus ana prograrne offered may' b. art cartooning, pottery, sw1mmifig and skating. The madlfied caiendar begins Aug. 6. registration le sti open and avaliabie ta anyone who Ivec ln the Durhamn aiea. What are the cost factors Involved far a public school ta provide fiee day camp foi those wha wlish ta save $100 a week ai the Y?* What safeguards are ln place that the maodifled calendar won't simpiy b. a situation of taxpayer-funded day camp? What*wl b. the Impact ta the schaols iln terme 0< f -teaching hinng/flrng, classe sizes, budget dralning, -etc.f , fenrolment peaks in August and then draps cornes Sept. 3? Questions What impacta