The Region doesn't fund hospitals. The Province funds hospitals. The Province has decided that any new hospitals will require a 30 per cent contribution from the community. The Province has decided this, not the Region.

Municipal leaders and myself have been encouraging the Province to allow development charges to help pay for new hospitals so the existing taxpayers don't have to pay for growth.

Regarding development charges, I voted not to give a discount to developers. That vote was recorded and can be found in the minutes of the meeting on our website at www.halton.ca

I supported Mayor Rob Burton's proposal to eliminate all discounts to developers. I don't believe existing taxpayers in Halton should pay for new growth.

Under GTA pooling, the Region sends $40 million per year of Halton property taxes to pay for Toronto's programs. This again was set up by the Province.

When I was an MPP I voted against this pooling because it was bad for Halton. The regional chairs of York, Peel and I met with the minister of finance and was able to convince him that this was wrong, and the Province is now phasing out pooling.

As a result, $40 million of taxpayers' money is now staying in Halton. As a part of the fairness campaign, one half of that money goes to local municipalities like Milton. This resulted in Milton receiving $738,000 this year to help pay for programs in Milton instead of Toronto.

Would Mr. Grimwood rather see his tax dollars go to Toronto? I would much rather see Milton receive this money than Toronto.

Now onto the Province requiring every civil servant salary over $100,000 to be published.

When I was an MPP I supported this when it was introduced in the mid-1990s. What I said and what is true is that this figure needs to be changed because it's now 2008 and the value of $100,000 is different from the mid-1990s.

At its meeting December 19, Halton council approved the 2008 Budget and Business Plan. The 2008 budget results in a property tax reduction of 0.6 per cent for Regional programs and services.

Most municipalities in Ontario this year had tax increases of seven, eight or nine per cent. The Region actually reduced its taxes on the Regional programs and services.

If anyone has any comments, I can be reached at gary.carr@halton.ca.

GARY CARR, HALTON REGIONAL CHAIR