P>AGE~ 4. Ttýtl.SDAY . IECf-MI3IiR 23. J1980, ýVl11TBY IF Rlý* PRESS whitbyI Voice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess, Publisher - Managing Editor 'ie only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. 1ublshed ev.er% NWednesdaN by l.B.. Pblihitig and Photogra phy Inc. Phone 66-61 Il The Free Press Building. 111 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. Michael J. Knell Community Editor Marjorie A. Burgess Production Manager Karen Thompson Advertising Manager Mailing Permit No 480 Member of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce Business must earn customers Dear Sir: I would like to com- ment on the letter of December 3, in the Whitby Free Press. I can appreciate the concern of the Whitby merchants over seeing prospective business going to merchants in neighbouring needs. However, the solution is not to berate the customers for their apparent disloyalty but to be self-critical and ask the question as to why people should shop elpewhere. There may be many reasons. The role in business is to find a need and fill it. If people are shopping elsewhere their needs are not being met locally. You have to earn the right to serve your customers. You cannot insist on it. Yours truly, Olive Smith Green St. In raising water and sewer'user rates region is only dealing with symptoms Last week, Durham Region al Council raised the user rates for their water and services by 20.5 per cent in 1980 and a further five per cent in the year 1981. Next year, the average Whitby resident, using 60,000 gallons of water a year, will pay about $176.76 for this service, that is up from 1980's $147.44. Aside from the additon financial burden that the region has placed on the average taxpayer, they reduced the amount of money fiat developers have to pay in lot levies by a corresponding 20 per cent. The problem is that council has dealt with a symptom, not the problem. The problem is a large and complex one and strîkes at the heart of the theory of government, in other words, the power to tax. Inflation and the increased demands for gover- nment services have placed a strain on gover- nment to the point that if something is not done within the next f ive years, ail levels of government (from municipal to federal) will be facing a crisis. It is becoming increasingly ob4ious that the taxpayer can no longer suppoyt government finan- cially under the present system of taxation. The time has come for government to reassess itself and for the taxpayer to reasses his con- tribution to it. The individual's dispQsable income is fast dwindling away because of the inflationary economic conditions of the day and 'the biggest contributor to the inflationary spiral is the gover- nment. it is a known fact that evey individual pays about 50 per cent of his disposai income in direct and indirect taxation. There, quite simply, is the problem. A problem that arises out of this one is the fact that the taxpayer, as a collective entity, does not appear to be overly concerned about this situation. Government spending, at ail levels, is one of the prime caOses of our economic troubles. These are general statements and do not direc- tly tie into regional council's action of last Wed- nesday. Technically and legally, the region can defend its action, however, they cannot predict the long term effect of their action because they simply do not know what the future will bring. In taking this action, regional council has displayed a total lack of leadership because they have yet to deal with the problem and prefer to deal only with the symptoms. It is not difficult to assume that many regional councillors are relieved that this issue was not before the electorate during the recent municipal campaign. In our opinion, many of them could not explain adequately the action that they took or could justify it to the taxpayers. (No disrespect intended.) In fact, this publication is not sure that anyone could fully explain, clearly and concisely so that everyone could understand, the action that they took and why they took it. There is only one plausible solution to this problem, tax reform. Reform is needed before the entire taxation system becomes so great that there will never be anyway to control it. In fact, regional couicil rejected a motion that came before it from another municipality calling for such measures. It is hoped that this issue will still be before us in the 1982 municipal election. w - .~.-. "/~ c~~K FFLL4~, ~v,7 a/~