Quote:
Originally Posted by jlousa
Just to touch on how a city with a residential condo boom can get into financial trouble, it's quite easy.
Residential property taxes do not come even close to covering the cost of services provided to them, in fact they pay only about half the costs. Commercial property taxes on the other hand pay over and above the cost of services they consume leading to a subsidy for residents.
So when you have a condo boom especially one that displaces commercial properties, the end result is that the city is worse off financially.
The more residential units that come on stream w/o an equilibrating ratio of commercial spaces the worse the problem gets.
The only way to stop that is by doubling residential property taxes. Anyone think that will fly with the public?
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I sort of agree with you. And I don't necessarily want to pay more taxes but also don't think the burden of city revenue should necessarily fall on homeowners / property owners either.
A more fair across the board city income tax for residents would make up revenue shortfalls which is increasingly important in a city that is becoming filled with renters rather than owners.
I also don't necessarily think that the condo boom will end anytime soon. With a 1.5% vacancy rate people need places to live and new rental only units aren't being built at all.
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