I thanked the Mayor, did you??

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Chaos said:
For what it's worth...

I suppose the property taxes as a percentage are flat, but because of the boom in real estate in the city, assessments are going through the roof, and they are generating more revenue that way. My property was reassessed, and my taxes went up 20% in 3 years.
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ah, but is the mva on your house accurate?

case in point: my mva is about 5% low, here in the 905. in the city, my sibling's house is 20% low. add to that the lower rates, and the question has to be asked: are torontonians really carrying the burden?

not to mention, if we start comparing the actual services and amenities that your tax dollars get you, as compared to the 'burbs. . .
 
I've always wondered something. Why are property taxes based on house value and not size of the house? It costs the same to deliver the services to a 1000 sq/ft house worth $200K as it does to a 1000 sq/ft house of $400k? Besides with the smaller houses you can pull in much more property tax per block than sprawling yards.
 
Rob MacLennan said:
Quite the opposite; they've consciously made a decision to operate without debt. You know, only spend as much money as you've got coming in. What a concept!
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So Mississauga sells no bonds? Does Hazel come knocking on your door..."Rob, we're repaving Dixie. Your share is $112.22, will that be cash or cheque"?

Or do you pay taxes a year or two in advance? I'd think that would cheese off those who are moving out though.

Rob MacLennan said:
It's hardly a myth. Taxes were effectively frozen, for a couple of decades, and have failed to rise to a level supported by the current value of the property since then. Successive civic governments refused to bite the bullet while simultaneously raising debt, and failing to replace aging infrastructure. That combination has buried Toronto.

Even a one time tax increase of 10%, of the current rates, would go a long way toward setting things right.
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I guess we've just had different experiences. When we first bought a property in Toronto it was reassessed shortly thereafter at double what we paid for it. We appealed using easily obtained neighbourhood property values, as well as home sale prices in the immediate vicinity, and got it rolled back.
Within a year it was made harder and harder to find out property values in a neighbourhood, and our home was reassessed again at 1.5 times what we paid. Within the next two years it doubled from the new value, and kept steadily being reassessed at every increasing values. At one point Mel stepped in and cut it in half - over three years mind you, and the year after his decrease came into effect, it was doubled again. So no, I'm not paying three or four grand for a house in Toronto, and I think that few people are. How often do you get reassessed? For us it seems to be every year or so, sometimes more often. For me the Mill rate means nothing, and it was kept artificially low, to keep those who weren't paying attention happy, while the assessments went through the roof. I know a few people who bought houses outside of Toronto, and had the assessment come back at half what they paid for the place - WTF? Maybe you know some people who are "sticking it to the man", but I don't. I guess that makes me the man. ;)
 
my property taxes are over 50+% higher than they were 14 years....so I think I'm paying more than my fair share....the house has been reassessed more times than I'd care to think about

and my reference for comparison is against my mother's place in Thornhill....she's got a bit of a palace there

her house is 3x the size of mine....her property is 3x the size of mine....and the going rate for her place is 3x as much as mine

and yet her property taxes are only 2x as much as mine

so who's getting the deal here?

maybe parts of Toronto proper might still have glaring discrepancies but imo North York homeowners are paying more than their share
 
Baggsy said:
We do however subsidize the commuters who travel into the city to work somewhat.
Maybe that is why the myth gets pushed. To assuage their feelings of guilt for taking advantage of us.
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I believe outlying municipalities make something like a transfer payment to Toronto every year as a means of compensating it for services that it ends up providing to their residents.
 
Unrelated topic
Things that piss me off that I believe are due to the stupidity of our elected officials

- Stop signs on roundabouts....really?????

- Stop signs in every corner, even in places that makes you go ummm? don't they conduct some kind of analysis before putting those up. They even made a crack about Canadians putting stop sign everywhere on "Modern Family"

- Traffic lights on places that are absolutely unnecessary
on this point, why for the love of god would someone put a brand new traffic light in here http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=43.695...A0xKKLCspHGrdvR-FrI1uQ&cbp=12,325.52,,0,25.46 Is it because there is no traffic jam at rush hours and we can't have that? WTF

- They cut one lane on Yonge north bound (close to Eglinton) this morning, prime rush hour spot and there was not a single construction worked or piece of machinery there at 830 this morning.....really???

- Ebikes are allowed on sidewalks due to its wheel size (thanks lisa) but rollerblades aren't..really????
 
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ZX600 said:
- Stop signs on roundabouts....really?????

- Stop signs in every corner, even in places that makes you go ummm? don't they conduct some kind of analysis before putting those up. They even made a crack about Canadians putting stop sign everywhere on "Modern Family"
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They have to cater to the less mentally capable in society or for those that smoke weed while driving.
For me anything that adds to my safety, I will take it.
Have u seen how many people are clueless when they approach a roundabout? I will like some signs so they have a clue on how to use it.
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