More About Assessment

Elizabeth Bishenden said...

On the other hand, could we try politics is the art of the possible when compromise is a possibility.

When a property or building is empty, it is just an investment. It doesn't generate income. It sits.

When an enterprise is in place, it has excitement, dreams, plans, and inspiration!

A business contributes to the community in many ways. Tax dollars are one kind of contribution, but giving the community a service, whether it's medical, legal, retail, or any other person-to-person commercial exchange

Treating an empty building as an investment ignores so many other aspects of the community.

So here's a bit of a radical idea. Give the tax break to the places with businesses, not the empty buildings.

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When I was first elected, property assessment was done at the municipal level.

The Province paid a share for several municipal services.Roads for example.

A tax differential between commercial and industrial properties allowed residential to be "subsidized" by business.

Our differential was very small so the subsidy factor was not so much. Also the theory was, property tax paid for services to property.

Chinguacousy Township (now Missuassaga) was 50/50 because of the airport. They were the best off municipalityin Canada,I think but certainly in Ontario.

Dominion Stores took the issue of tax differential to court. They won.

The province had to find a new measurement for assessment.

There was another reason. Cost-sharing for stuff like road re-construction,was based on the municipality's assessment wealth.

The lower the assessment, the greater the Provincial share.Some municipalities were not scrupulously honest about assessments.They might just overlook a thing or two. The Provincial share was greater that way.There was something called an equalisation factor.

Initially,responsibility for re-assessment at market value was permissive and left with cities and counties. That way,municipalities got the blame.

Burlington did it first. York County was second. The Province provided the manual.

Completed, the picture was so horrifying, the Assessment Commish was immediately transferred to another bailliewick,a new manual was produced and everything had to be done a second time.

Toronto never did do it. There was serious inequity between millionaire mansions in the city. Ticky-tacky boxes in the suburbs were paying higher taxes. Scarborough for example was paying substantially greater share of Metro's taxes than Toronto.

Tiny perfect Mayor David Crombie was in charge then. A great well of resentment grew between the boroughs and the city. When Joyce Trimble, one of the last of Scarborough's Mayors stepped down, she had bitter things to say about the inequity.

It was likely the reason Brian Ashton, a veteran Scarborough Councillor,member of David Miller's executive committee was dumped by Miller because of the vehicle registration tax.He voted against it. The seat was offered to another Scarborough alderman. He too refused it.As usual the media paid little attention.

Toronto media truly is Toronto's media. Except for every other country in the universe.

The boroughs have just elected Rob Ford. Toronto has gotten her come-uppance. Rob Ford's first item of businesss is to scupper the vehicle registration tax.

Toronto will do anything but increase property tax. Miller boasted it is lowest tax in the GTA. For a politician,that's peachy, if you can get away with it and Toronto's politicians always seem to...until now.

Remember when we were sending $75 million a year for Toronto's social services.We didn't have access to the services, or a say in the budget, but we were footing the bill. We didn't have anybody at the Region putting up much of a fight either.

Mel Lastman used to blame the GTA for robbing Toronto of industry. He claimed we were giving them lower taxes to seduce them. A municipality is not allowed to give tax breaks. But market value assessment, which Toronto did not adopt, had the effect of removing the differential between business and residential. Ergo, taxes were lower for business in the boonies. Toronto property was more valuable. So naturally they sold for a higher price, bought more for lower and hi-tailed it out of there in droves. And paid less taxes.

I remember Municipal Affairs Minister, Darcy McKeough's disbelief when I told him Toronto homeowners were paying considerably less property taxes than Aurora home owners.

Market value assessment was not mandated by the Province. They left it to municipalities to decide. Ontario is afraid of Toronto's power at the polling booth. They depend greatly on people outside the city not paying attention. When you have limp-wristed leaders, people don't pay much attention.

The Government of Ontario also took a drubbing when Rob Ford was elected.

It doesn't matter what political party is in office, Toronto's vote will always terrify them....unless they reduce the number of seats in Toronto. Which would be difficult because of the number of people.

In the assessment world,things went smoothly for a while. Then market value became current market value. Meaning re-assessment was carried out regularly. As property values rose, so did assessment.

Business became restive again. They complained. The Province allowed municipalities to "phase-in" higher taxes from higher assessments on business properties.They didn't tell them they had to. They just allowed them the discretion. It's called dumping the responsibility.

So much for equity between classes of property.

So you see Elizabeth, business is getting a break that home-owners are not.

There's lots of stuff going on in the taxation field that ain't exactly kosher.

There are just not enough people around who remember what was.