Charges on Homes, Offices, Shops to Fund Rapid Transit

[gweed123]

To make a long story short also since new rapid transit lines spurs development around the lines then why not charge them something, but treat it more like a co-operation to compliment each other particularly with station building and what's integrated into it. This particular method may very well have merit, especially since there's a chance to see how it'll work out with this London line.

So are you thinking of a one-time fee, or a recurring tax? Both methods have their merits, and their drawbacks. I'm just curious which one you see more fit for this type of scenario.

 

[M II A II R II K]

A fee that helps pay to get the line built. It can be a one time fee that doesn't necessarily have to be paid all at once.

 

[spider]

I guess I should have read the press release before commenting on the funding concept. I am left with these impressions.

First, this Crosslink (don't know if it is a subway or stitching together existing rail lines, hence the name Crosslink) is 73 miles long traversing several municipalities or jurisdictions that are presumably already largely developed. This is a distance roughly equivalent to the distance between Oakville and Oshawa.

Second, the plan calls for developement fees (which we already have) to be levied by the jurisdictions through which it passes on ALL NEW construction only with no provision to scale the fees with regard to proximity to the Crosslink project.

If the tariff is too high it sounds like a developement killer to me, why not keep it simple and just raise taxes.

 

[W. K. Lis]

At the present time, for the first year of occupancy, purchasers of new condominium units will receive a Metropass for a year to travel on the TTC. Isn't this requirement a similar funding concept?

 

[spider]

The Metropass is a cost passed on by the developer to the purchaser of the condo, no skin is lost from his ass in the process. Basically it is a user pay tax, not a developement fee.

 

[gweed123]

A fee that helps pay to get the line built. It can be a one time fee that doesn't necessarily have to be paid all at once.

Yeah, as long as it goes to covering capital, not operating, that's my biggest thing. And yeah, maybe a levy spread out over the 5 years preceeding opening. At least that way a) it's less of a financial burden on the homes and businesses, and b) if the levy is being collected WHILE construction is underway, they can at least see that the money being collected is helping pay for the massive construction site right down the street (as opposed to being collected years beforehand, where there's no tangible work being done on the project).

 

[SlickFranky]

The Metropass is a cost passed on by the developer to the purchaser of the condo, no skin is lost from his ass in the process. Basically it is a user pay tax, not a developement fee.

Umm....who do you think pays for those development fees in the end?