I agree about property taxes in Toronto. They should be raised. They are artificially low and not on par with 905. To all the bleeding hearts out there that say it will force people out of their homes... TOUGH. If you can't afford to pay the taxes on your home then you should downsize or not own a home. Period.
*****Flame shield activated*****
PS> I got my plate renewal today.... 74 for one year PLUS 60. What a crock of SH^T.
i am not so sure property taxes in toronto are that much lower than 905 comparitively given the amount of space 905 takes geographically. i would love to know the per capita/sq km comparison. my property is a third or quarter of the size of a 905ers home. the whole property tax system is so convoluted. as far as the highway tax goes, who uses it more should pay the premiums. they shouldn't be massive penalties but they should remind people that this is a service that costs a huge amount of money to maintain.
Maybe a real simple system: Add these together
Property tax based on number of heated cubic feet for all buildings. quite a small number per cuft I expect
Land area tax just to cover big gardens, parking lots etc. Another small number per sq ft
Municipalities would get their income from these.
Fire service tax Cost of Fire service / divided by total heated cubic feet in the area * your cubic feet
Policing tax Cost of police/# people in the area * number of people living in or employed by a company in your building
Snow clearance tax a simple function of frontage onto a public road but only applied if the municipality clears the snow with direct labour
garbage, water, sewage, at amounts used ( Assume sewage gallonage = water gallonage )
Education a separate bill altogether let the school boards work it out.
Every separate piece has an obvious correlation to what it is paying for.