Toronto is vastly undertaxed considering the services and infrastructure we provide / enjoy.
TO's mill rate vs. other municipalities in the GTA for 2010
http://www.propertytoronto.com/TaxRates2010.pdf
TO is 20% to 50% LESS than other cities
Mill rate is not the best comparison, because property values do not necessarily correspond to the cost of providing services. The fellow who compared the taxes paid on his 4-bedroom house in Cabbagetown to a similarly-sized house in a smaller town has a
partial point. The Cabbagetown house may cost twice as much, but the cost of paving the streets of Cabbagetown do not. I would not consider it a good deal to pay 50% more on my phone bill simply because my house costs 100% more, and the same reasoning should apply to municipal services, if we are comparing value
between municipalities.
In addition, most Torontonians are renters, and pay a far higher proportion of their incomes in housing costs. These people do not benefit from high property values. And when property taxes are raised, these increases can legally be applied to the rent. Property taxes are not levied based on ability to pay, and are a major burden for the elderly, large families and renters. This is one reason why it would be insane to scrap the Land Transfer Tax, which does not affect renters and is mainly a burden for house flippers and real estate agents who profit from frequent house sales. (Ford opponents might wish to tell tenants who voted for Ford that scrapping the LTT is necessarily an implied property tax
increase, ie: the overall tax burden is shifted back to property owners, as opposed to property
sellers, an increased burden that renters will have to pay).
However, there have been comparisons of
typical Toronto property taxes and typical taxes elsewhere, as paid by families in similar circumstances. These studies have also found that Torontonians get a pretty good deal, independent of the local property values. This is skewed somewhat by the unfair application of the education portion of the tax bill, and this good deal does not apply to businesses, who pay much more in property taxes than businesses elsewhere.
So there is room for residential tax increases, but the City needs to diversify its revenue base, and deal with the structural deficit (ie: which is mostly the TTC subsidy paid to keep suburban transit routes going).
