Quote:
Originally Posted by brett.electrician
Wow! I just read through this entire thread. Some people on here really have it in for suburbanities. Just a couple of questions. Why should people living in a rural place pay equal taxes to those living in the inner city? Shouldn't your taxes be based on the services you recieve? Why is there such a level of hatred expressed by certian member of the fourm towards the residents of flambourgh? What have they ever done to you? Isn't it true they were forced into amalgamation? If so of course they aren't going to be happy. Do the people of Flambourgh even feel a connection to Hamilton? I.E do they shop there, go to school or use the services?
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I think it's a generality to say those in the country receive less in services. I think they recieve the same in service amount/value, but those services are just different and not as clearly evident as some of those services 'consumed' in the city.
An example would be garbage pickup and snow removal. On my city street in only 300' (600' linear) the city can collect garbage and remove snow for 20 homes. If each home pays $3,000/year in property taxes that's $60,000 in tax revenue. I'm guessing in a rural setting that 600' linear feet of plowing or garbage pickup would perhaps cover 2, perhaps 3 properties. Are rural those properties paying their 'fair share' for that service, or are the city properties subsidizing them?
Same with city vs. rural school bus pickups, road maintenance, constructing water lines, sewage lines, police, and fire department coverage, etc......
Heck, a large portion of my property taxes are funnelled to education. My wife and I don't (and won't) have kids, so does that mean I should jump up and down shouting and screaming that I'm hard done by? And how about people who have large families shouldn't they pay more than those with smaller families?
I feel for those with increased tax bills, and I support their right to be angry and to voice their anger. That's democracy. I also know that sometimes life's not fair and whoever said it was fair, lied. But, they'll have their right to lobby their provincial MPP, and throw their support behind mayoral and councillor candidate that support their views in future elections. If there's a large enough voice, and a compelling reason to reverse decisions they should change.