PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1980, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby w h itb yPublished every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography inc. Phone 668-61 Il The Free Press Buildine Volco of the County Town Michael Ian Burgess, Publisher - Managing Editor IL131 Brock Street North, ie only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. P.O. Box 206, Whitby, 0 Community Editor Mike Knoll Production Manager Mari Burg*sS Advertising Manager Karen Thompoon g. nt. ti ie Bw aw t ol il Property tax system unfair If another Proposition 13 was ever needed, it is needed now in this part of Southern Ontario. But, it must be pointed out, not for exactly the same reasons. The trouble that both the residents and business community are suffering from is the fact that they can be taxed by almost anyone with authority. While many levels of government do not tax directly, they all tax. To whom does the Whitby taxpayer (both residential and commercial) pay his money? To CLOCA, to the Town, to the Region, to the Board of Education, to the Province, to the federal gover- nment, to Alberta, to everyone. In short, we are over taxed because we pay tax to virtually every level of government in the country. On the most important municipal level, the Town, the Region and the Board of Education do not even use the same method of calculating tax although they tax the same thing - our homes and businesses. There is no equity in the method of taxation on the local level. Equity is what is needed because if the system used was the same then we could almost be guaranteed a reduction in the amount of taxes that we have to pay. Also, there is two too many levels of government to have the power to tax the only thing many of us own worth anything in and businesses. the long term - our homes For example, why should a businessman have to pay such a large share of the education tax dollar? Or why should senior citizens, single people or married couples without children have to pay that same education tax dollar? Education should be paid for by those of us who require that service either for ourselves or our children. It should be a user-pay system. A user-pay system would probably make the education system more financially efficient. A user pay system would make the educational authorities more aware of who is paying for their services. Granted, the user would probably have to pay more in education taxes if such a system was in- troduced, however, parents would gain more con- trol over the system by the virtue of being paying customers. Only those who have water and sanitary sewer facilities in the region pay for them, why isn't it the same with education? If the tax burden for education was lifted from the business community, they would have more to invest in their businesses. Investment means jobs and jobs means prosperity. Senior citizens paid their education taxes while their families were still young, they have no further need of that service. If they didn't have to pay those taxes, they wouldn't have such a financial strain on their pensions. Single people and married couples without children should not have to pay education taxes because they have no children to educate. Even if these groups of people wanted to take evening courses offered by the Board, they still have to pay extra for them. They still don't get educational services without fee. This is perhaps the most notable inequity in the municipal taxation system. Most local politicians have admitted that changes in the municipal tax structure are needed, but they have never proposed how these changes should take place, or even what these changes should be. The most taxed person is the businessman. On the municipal level he subsidizes services that he doesn't even use. The residential taxpayer, in this sense, is very fortunate. This, however, does not change the fact that municipal taxes are' both too heavy and badly distributed. Granted, those municipal services provided by the Town, the Region and the Board are needed, but shouldn't those of us who need those services pay for them, instead of everyone subsidizing everyone for services that only some of us use?