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Hike taxes more, Board urges

JasonParis

JasonParis

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You don't hear this everyday...

Hike taxes more, Board urges
Feb 05, 2008 11:51 AM
Toronto Star
Paul Moloney
City Hall Bureau

The Toronto Board of Trade stunned city politicians this morning by recommending a special 3 per cent property tax levy on top of increase being proposed to fix crumbling roads and pay for other overdue capital projects.

The proposed “property tax surcharge†should be imposed annually, starting this year, and run for five years, board of trade president Carole Wilding told council’s budget committee during public hearings on the proposed $8.2 billion operating budget for 2008.

The surcharge, which wouldn’t apply to business properties, would be in addition to the 3.75 per cent hike being considered by the city. If the board’s recommendation is adopted, the total increase would be 6.75 per cent.

However, the board hopes the city can limit its increase to 2 per cent rather than 3.75 per cent, she said.

The board normally appears at budget hearings to urge the city to cut its costs, but the infrastructure gap has become too large to ignore, she said.

Wilding reminded the committee that some suburban municipalities are looking at increases in the 7 to 9 per cent range.

The surcharge would cost the average homeowner about $60 and generate about $40 million annually. The road repair backlog alone has been estimated at $300 million and growing.

“What we’re recommending is the need to invest in infrastructure,†Wilding told the committee. “We absolutely can’t wait,†Wilding told the committee. “There’s a critical need.â€

Wilding said the sinkhole that opened up Monday on Lake Shore Blvd. W. is just he kind of traffic-stopping breakdown that costs business big bucks.

“Whenever any particular major route gets shut down for any period of time, you can calculate the hundreds of thousands of dollars it costs business which ultimately costs the city,†Wilding told reporters after her presentation.

Committee members seemed taken aback by the board’s message.

“So you’re actually recommending a larger tax increase than we’re recommending?†asked Councillor Gord Perks.

“What we’re recommending is the need to invest in infrastructure,†Wilding replied. “We know that we see this backlog that’s going to rise over the next five years. This is something we need to move forward with.â€

Business properties would be exempt from the surcharge because they already pay higher taxes, while residential taxes in Toronto are significantly lower than in the surrounding 905, she added.
 
The property tax burden is being progressively transferred from businesses to homeowners, thanks to Miller's council, in a process that is being phased in over several years. Now the business lobby wants to burden homeowners with a surcharge too. No doubt Miller's council will go along with this as well.
 
The number of new tax ideas this year is breathtaking. It seems everyone has an angle on taxation and who to tax (as heavily as possible).

It's hilarious to see the Board of Trade, who otherwise would be kicking and screaming at the idea of a tax increase, calling for an ever greater tax increase on homeowners.
 
Hydrogen said:
It's hilarious to see the Board of Trade, who otherwise would be kicking and screaming at the idea of a tax increase, calling for an ever greater tax increase on homeowners.
Click to expand...

Not surprising, considering they represent the business community and not homeowners. Now if they recommended the same tax increase to businesses, that would raise some eyebrows.
 
Perhaps businesses who generate wealth as a result of occupying space in our city shouldn't expect to be increasingly subsidized by those of us who pay residential property tax and don't generate wealth from our properties.
 
The property tax burden is being progressively transferred from businesses to homeowners, thanks to Miller's council, in a process that is being phased in over several years. Now the business lobby wants to burden homeowners with a surcharge too. No doubt Miller's council will go along with this as well.
Click to expand...


well of course it is a major reason why job growth in the city has not met expectations...
 
Businesses will just have to be more innovatively entrepreneurial and clever, like they keep telling people they are, and they won't need to get a free ride from everyone else.
 
Urban Shocker said:
Perhaps businesses who generate wealth as a result of occupying space in our city shouldn't expect to be increasingly subsidized by those of us who pay residential property tax and don't generate wealth from our properties.
Click to expand...

That's one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is to acknowledge that residents are the primary driver of costs, and that business already pays a much higher portion of municipal costs relative to neighbouring cities. What Toronto needs is to harmonize its property tax regime with its suburbs to help to stem the flight of business.

Beyond that, what the GTA really needs is new sources of revenue, generally in the form of consumption taxes (sales tax, gas tax, alcohol, cigarettes, etc.).
 
I tend to be in favour of taxes and fees that affect the entire spectrum of the population equally rather than a select few. I would rather every household in the city pay an extra 2% in property taxes, raise income taxes in all tax brackets by the same percentage, or implement a 1% province wide "infrastructure tax" over and above PST, in order to avoid selective taxation or fees for ice rental, transit fares, license renewal, liquor, etc. that don't hit everyone equally.
 
Chuck said:
I tend to be in favour of taxes and fees that affect the entire spectrum of the population equally rather than a select few. I would rather every household in the city pay an extra 2% in property taxes, raise income taxes in all tax brackets by the same percentage, or implement a 1% province wide "infrastructure tax" over and above PST, in order to avoid selective taxation or fees for ice rental, transit fares, license renewal, liquor, etc. that don't hit everyone equally.
Click to expand...

I tend to be in favour of LESS taxes and fees for all. Maybe us Canadian should stop trying to push more taxes on other, and start to think whether we need these taxes at all. Take health care, everybody is talking how it is in trouble, how we need more money. No, we don't need more money. All we need to do is to hire doctors from around the world. Thousands if not tens of thousands would line up to move to Canada. We pay them $30000 a year, bang, no health care problem anymore. Public transit drivers, $12000 a year, we will have enough of them moving people on tricycles.
 
I think we need to really look at privatizing some parts of our govt.

Even the Europeans have done it...
 
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