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Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012
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Town backs away from daytime council meetings
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R I C H M O N D H I L L’ S C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R S I N C E 1 8 7 8
House assessments jump over next 4 years
Few residents commented on proposed time changes
Richmond Hill, Markham hit with highest rates
By KIM ZARZOUR
kzarzour@yrmg.com
BY L. H. TIFFANY HSIEH
Town councillors have backed off from a proposal to hold council committee meetings during the day. This summer, residents were asked for their input on changes to the town’s procedural bylaw regarding the timing of public meetings. Currently, full council meetings start at 7:30 p.m. and committee of the whole meetings — which all councillors attend but do not make final decisions on matters before them — start at 4:30 p.m. The change to meeting timing was proposed for this fall, starting full council meetings slightly earlier, at 7 p.m., and committee of the whole at 1 p.m. Donna McLarty, town clerk, said Richmond Hill is one of only two York Region municipalities — along with King Township — to stick with the later times, but Mayor Dave Barrow suggested it wasn’t necessary to “follow the pack”, that this was an opportunity to be a leader in making local government accessible to the public. The town asked residents for their opinion on the change, but received what Councillor Carmine Perrelli called “overwhelming under-response”. Just two comments from residents were submitted during the seven-week time period allotted for feedback. The Richmond Hill Liberal published one letter to the editor saying the change would be undemocratic and make council less accountable to residents. Councillor Godwin Chan said a 1 p.m. start for committee of the whole would limit
thsieh@yrmg.com
STAFF PHOTOS/STEVE SOMERVILLE
BUTTERFL-EYES Carrie Code (above), a student in the face painting workshop lead by artist Lucia Lew (left) has her eyes transformed to butterflies Tuesday at the Bayview Watercolor Society show and sale on all this week and featuring workshops, too. For more details and photographs, see page 12 and go online at yorkregion.com
See DEFERRAL page 7.
BEAT THE RUSH, BOOK EARLY
Residential property assessment in York will jump by an average of 6.7 per cent per year for the next four years. That’s according to the latest Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) assessment. Since the last assessment update was delivered in 2008, residential property values have increased by an average of about 27.2 per cent in the region: 26.6 per cent in Vaughan, 31.6 per cent in Markham and Richmond Hill, 17 per cent in WhitchurchStouffville, 24 per cent in Aurora, 21.8 per cent in Newmarket, 18.9 percent in King, 15.3 per cent in East Gwillimbury and 13.6 per cent in Georgina. Waterfront property in Georgina has increased in value by about 19.5 per cent, while farmland went up by about 25.5 per cent. An increase in assessment does not necessarily mean an increase in property taxes. If the assessed value of a home has increased by the same percentage as the average in the municipality, there might be no increase in the property taxes paid by property owners. Property assessment notices are now being mailed to more than 328,000 area property owners as part of this fall’s provincewide assessment update. See ‘COMMITTED,’ page 7
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