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Canadian Urbanism Uncovered

3 comments

  2. The tax burden is going to be placed on homeowners, who already pay high taxes. And if high business taxes are causing businesses to move to the suburbs, will higher residential taxes promote the hollowing of the city’s neighbourhoods?

    What are your thoughts on this, Glen?

  3. Compared to the rest of the province, Toronto residents do not pay high taxes. That is just comparing the average tax, not rate but actual dollar amount. For an increase in Toronto’s residential tax to cause an exodus of residents to become reality, there would have to be a lower taxed destination for them to go to. Everywhere surrounding Toronto pays more tax on average, so Toronto residents will not find escape outside the city.

    I am generally not a fan of playing the pissing game of what city pays more or less tax. The underlying philosophy of municipal property tax is to raise funds locally to pay for service rendered locally. With this in mind compare what percentage the average property tax bill covers in expense for Toronto vs. Mississauga.

    For 2006 the city of Toronto’s operating budget worked out to spending $ 8,422 per household. In Mississauga (combined with Peel region) municipal spending was $3848.29 per household. So while the average residential property tax burden might differ by 25% between Mississauga and Toronto, that only shows half the picture.

    Toronto spends on average $ 8,422 per household while collecting $ 2,174

    Mississauga and Peel Region combined spend $ 3,848 per household while collecting $ 2,800

    In Toronto, the property tax on an average home represents only 26% of the actual cost of services.
    In Mississauga, property tax on an average home represents 73% of per household cost of services