Hamilton is the highest taxed city in Canada

[DC83]

Hamilton is the highest taxed city in Canada

Jan, 21 2008 - 8:00 AM

HAMILTON (AM900 CHML) - As Hamilton city councillors struggle with ways to prevent a six percent property tax hike, there's word Hamilton residents already pay the highest taxes in the country.
The study conducted by the city of Edmonton compares property taxes and utilities for 25 to 30-year old, three bedroom bungalows with a finished basement and double garage.

In Hamilton, the property tax on that kind of home is more than 42-hundred dollars.

That's almost 15-hundred dollars more than the lowest taxed city in the survey, Winnipeg.

Hamilton came in the highest taxed city.

Brampton was second.

Toronto was eighth

http://900chml.com/news/news_local.c...news_local.cfm

[SteelTown]

Oh you are such a copycat it's unbelievable!

We posted the same article at the same time too.

[DC83]

^^ hahahaha Apparently we're both nerds and watch 900chml.com all day waiting for new news :s hahaha

[raisethehammer]

Id like to see this so-called report.
If that's the extent of their research, then it's a piece of garbage.
Taxes deal with so much more than a "3 bedroom blah blah blah".
Anyone have the actual report? Let's hope there's more to it than this or CHML should be ashamed for even mentioning it.

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by DC83

^^ hahahaha Apparently we're both nerds and watch 900chml.com all day waiting for new news :s hahaha

Guess what I overheard well getting my water bottle filled up at the lunch room? They were talking about the upcoming Star Trek movie. Yea seriously nerdville at McMaster haha.

[drpgq]

"Id like to see this so-called report.
If that's the extent of their research, then it's a piece of garbage.
Taxes deal with so much more than a "3 bedroom blah blah blah".
Anyone have the actual report? Let's hope there's more to it than this or CHML should be ashamed for even mentioning it."

Are you suggesting that Hamilton's taxes are reasonable?

Personally, in this coming budget round I think Hamilton should push back
that 7 million for new ambulance service and implement it 3 years from now.

[markbarbera]

Originally Posted by drpgq

"Id like to see this so-called report.
If that's the extent of their research, then it's a piece of garbage.
Taxes deal with so much more than a "3 bedroom blah blah blah".
Anyone have the actual report? Let's hope there's more to it than this or CHML should be ashamed for even mentioning it."

Are you suggesting that Hamilton's taxes are reasonable?

Personally, in this coming budget round I think Hamilton should push back
that 7 million for new ambulance service and implement it 3 years from now.

I don't think our tax levels are unreasonable.

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by drpgq

"Id like to see this so-called report.
If that's the extent of their research, then it's a piece of garbage.
Taxes deal with so much more than a "3 bedroom blah blah blah".
Anyone have the actual report? Let's hope there's more to it than this or CHML should be ashamed for even mentioning it."

Are you suggesting that Hamilton's taxes are reasonable?

Personally, in this coming budget round I think Hamilton should push back
that 7 million for new ambulance service and implement it 3 years from now.

Great idea. I think we should also defer doing any work on our waste-water system, underground sewers and harbour cleanup.
Believe it or not, there are many things that go into making a city function well. You might never use the ambulance, but what if you do?? You'll be darn glad that we have world-class emergency service at that moment.
I don't think you'd by lying in the back of the ambulance saying "friggin city council!! I wanted them to scrap these improvements at last years budget!"

[drpgq]

"Great idea. I think we should also defer doing any work on our waste-water system, underground sewers and harbour cleanup.
Believe it or not, there are many things that go into making a city function well. You might never use the ambulance, but what if you do?? You'll be darn glad that we have world-class emergency service at that moment.
I don't think you'd by lying in the back of the ambulance saying "friggin city council!! I wanted them to scrap these improvements at last years budget!" "


Really? Because there are vast hordes of people dying prematurely from the ambulance service we have now? When a bunch of public sector workers pack a council meeting
trying to get a massive increase in expenditure passed, you know something's fishy.
Why not increase it by 14 million, then we would have the ultimate ambulance service.

I don't disagree with public expenditures, but this one seems like a weak payoff to me that is too oriented towards consumption with no lasting benefit. I would much rather they plow it into economic development or take the 7 million per year and continue to buy up derelict buildings and renovate them (ie the building between pizza pizza and maxim's). Plus it seems like an easy thing to postpone for a few years.

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by drpgq

"Great idea. I think we should also defer doing any work on our waste-water system, underground sewers and harbour cleanup.
Believe it or not, there are many things that go into making a city function well. You might never use the ambulance, but what if you do?? You'll be darn glad that we have world-class emergency service at that moment.
I don't think you'd by lying in the back of the ambulance saying "friggin city council!! I wanted them to scrap these improvements at last years budget!" "


Really? Because there are vast hordes of people dying prematurely from the ambulance service we have now? When a bunch of public sector workers pack a council meeting
trying to get a massive increase in expenditure passed, you know something's fishy.
Why not increase it by 14 million, then we would have the ultimate ambulance service.

I don't disagree with public expenditures, but this one seems like a weak payoff to me that is too oriented towards consumption with no lasting benefit. I would much rather they plow it into economic development or take the 7 million per year and continue to buy up derelict buildings and renovate them (ie the building between pizza pizza and maxim's). Plus it seems like an easy thing to postpone for a few years.

ahh, I see. I thought you were just randomly picking a service to rail on. Didn't realize you specifically had a problem with that proposal.
We certainly need to keep them accountable to not be wasting our money.

[LikeHamilton]

Ontario has highest taxed cities in Canada

Kevin Gaude, Mar 07, 2008 Hamilton Mountain News.com

A new report out of Edmonton shows that Toronto takes the dubious honour for having the highest property taxes in Canada.
However, a few other Ontario cities place just behind it at the top of the list. Beleaguered tax-paying homeowners in Ontario have suffered from high rates for years, yet they are still facing large rate hikes this year. The Edmonton report is proof enough that municipal governments should hold the line on spending and give taxpayers a break.

The detailed property tax report issued by the City of Edmonton reveals that some Ontario cities rank the highest in Canada when it comes to property taxes. The cities of Toronto, Ottawa, Brampton, Hamilton and London take five of the top six spots on the list for the highest average property taxes paid.

This is something most homeowners in these cities know intuitively every time they pay their tax bill. Now they have it confirmed by an objective report which compared over 30 municipalities across Canada.

Toronto ranked first with the highest taxes paid at $3,912, followed by Brampton at $3,826. Ottawa was third at $3,532; Hamilton and London were fifth and sixth at $3,305 and $3,078 respectively. St. John's Newfoundland deserves credit for taking last place with the lowest average tax at $1,540, and Surrey, BC was second last at $1,814.

This sad but helpful property tax news is timely as city councils across Ontario are in the early stages of preparing their budgets. As well, Premier McGuinty's freeze on assessments for homes expired at the beginning of 2008. Not only will tax rates be going up, but for the first time in a few years homeowners will take a second hit if their home value reassessment shows an increase above the average increase. Assessment changes will take effect for 2009 property tax rates.

What is especially helpful about the Edmonton report is that it compares property taxes in a dollar value instead of as a percentage. Some mayors, like Toronto's Mayor Miller, try to defend high property taxes by hiding behind what appears to be a lower rate than other cities. This is hiding because the average value of a home is high in Toronto so the total taxes paid for a Toronto homeowner are higher. When paying taxes one cares less about the rate paid or the details of the complicated formula used. Instead, one cares about how much money is being taken year over year. That is the only comparison relevant to a taxpayer, not whether the rate is 0.82 in one city versus 1.15 in another city.

The main reason for high and growing property taxes in Ontario is that municipal spending is out of control. Municipalities have a spending problem not a revenue problem. While mayors continue to clamour for more and more money from many sources, their appetites for spending grow unchecked.

Data from Statistics Canada shows that municipal revenue across Ontario has been running at three times the rate of inflation. In 2006 municipal revenue was up 6.3 per cent while inflation was only at 2.0 per cent; in 2005 revenue was up 7.2 per cent and inflation was only 2.2 per cent. Despite Ontario municipal revenues ballooning from higher taxes, more transfers from other levels of government, higher user fees and new taxes in Toronto; mayors continue to complain that they don't have enough.

It is interesting how mayors can work together cooperatively when it comes to demanding transfers from other levels of government or getting new taxing authority from the province. If that same energy were transferred to creating efficiencies and reducing costs, the report out of Edmonton might show a different - and welcome - conclusion.

Kevin Gaudet

Ontario Director

Canadian Taxpayers Federation

The CTF is a non-profit, non-partisan, educational and advocacy organization funded by free-will contributions.

[eemy]

What a ridiculous article. Ontario municipalities also bear the largest burden for spending on social programs that are covered by the provinces outside of Ontario. Of course our property taxes are going to be higher. People should be lobbying the government to either take over social programs that were downloaded under Mike Harris, or introduce new streams of revenue like they did in the case of Toronto.

[thistleclub]

Dunno if anyone's still interested, but Edmonton has their 2001-2007 Residential Property Tax and Utility Charges Surveys archived in PDF.

[ScreamingViking]

This is the closest thing we have to a municipal tax thread.

Maybe it can be renamed "Property Tax Talk" or something, and a mod can move the posts about municipal taxes from the airport thread to this one?