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. I BYJim Etherin _ I _ . ' . . _ gton . . _ _ of The Free Press . fotrthing for tlureeonomy at the time as _ Whil st . . _ traffic was diverted west ot the long-time 1 ye Qntaiio IS in the throes of house- . ferry terminus. cleaning its assessment system in order to B _ £233: Jdeiiearthtgl't tax base, a Nova . ut the Causeway provided a barrier to solve its (1'13 FY has found an easy way to Winter ice creating one of the best .Year- . reSi ent.ialiim.iusy ‘: round harbors in the world. Sinc th trial assessment mibal- iid,) - 1:1; thro h . . e en, m ance. 'ij)) Bl::,,,:,,?!,,,,',!,,,,,!;,),' 25 7 ug _provincial and federal stimulus, a Port Hawkesbury is a 'ig., j s Tmm heavy water plant is nearing com- I town .of about 4,000 peo_ 'llllvsrl?,:?rs, f iir pletion, a $45,000,000 pulp mill is being ex- tt m southwest Cape -. pended and a newsprint mill costing $60 - O l T , ieton. Lllie .many small 000,000 is going up. In addition a $77 000 000 Ct maritime fishing and Imu- Jr., t'K:i':':y:i':i'i:,lj?:?i'j:;'irirr: oil refiner d ' , o - it ing communities it 'i-::,):'. 'ii"i"Lsx'i""d t.. y an deep-water tanker terminal tsill- - ed h _ '.' 1 seem. 'iii,',)"': Nibw' is under. construction, and an $18 000 000 pow- i: . eaded for tight times C "tj/r/_:'. ... Ta er plant is in operation , ' h.. N - until the Canso Causeway 'li_,ji._,r,r:'i:,_'A_, ' . 8 V m was constructed in 1955. Mr. . .But as coastal shipping owner Art Langley o i' This didn't seem such a Etherington nel?.',' for the past eight years, told The Free _ ii . -. Press in a recent interview in Halifax, this '0 .. t2. ts a, _ th, Cs,' wt m m a: n. M m 'ii created fantastic cost problems for Port ties of Guysborough, Antigonish and Inver- u. m Hawkesbury where most of the workmen ness, the remainder. _ 2 "lr- _ chose to live. With all the industrial assess "Right now we get about $55,000 in taxes 2 ment gomg primarily to Richmond County . . . Rh- Q here th Iant . it t d th . . 1 but when all the plants are finished we will _ c', w , e p S are SI ua e. ' ere Simpy get about that much from each of them," c: I -. wasn't enough money to build the schools, said Mayor Langley. F- m roads and install the services for the homes Tl k t ll lit d d t _ . tl tb ro ti ' . ian's o ie spi, an even more ue o l 1a egan sp u mg up $6,000,000 in interest-free, payment-free loans a, Then Dr. Thomas MacKeough, minister of which start to fall due in two years, taxes for E . " municipal affairs about three years ago, the average home are only $450. U brought municipal officials together and A sewage treatment plant has been in- c: agreement was reached to divide up the tax stalled and a water pressure system is being . - revenue. completed. h-. c: Port Hawkesbury now gets 32 per cent of Here in Ontario such a split of taxes is not the taxes, Richmond County 33 per cent, possible under provincial assessment regula- m I Mulgrave, a town across the Canso Strait, lions. Even if it was, Ray Timbs, the region- ', E about 15 per cent, and the three area coun- . a1 assessment commissioner has said, it is : doubtful if communities surrounding London m could agree.-- and he was referring to the l Ford of Canada taxes that go to Southwold , - Township. "Mi-tt ull: Mr. Timbs said Alberta is the only prov- * ince that routinely allows tax splits on indus- m try. He said that unless there was initiative _ by two or more municipalities for such a . c: thing in Ontario, he doubted if such special _ agreement would ever be reached before the o new provincial economic program is started. . -lBllt He noted that London wouldn't simply get _ a piece of Ford taxes under such a split. m There would also be the problem of how to o distribute taxes from London industries to l the surrounding townships in which workers at these industries live. at "It works both ways "you know," he said, . . 'c)