Ontario Property Tax

Whereas, more than a decade ago the Ontario provincial government embarked on property tax reform The Ontario Fair Assessment System that claimed to be fair, consistent, and clear;

and Whereas, at that time, the governments promotional materials made the point that it is unfair that similar homes getting the same services are paying vastly different taxes;

and Whereas, during the ensuing decade property tax disparities have demonstrably worsened;

and Whereas, a system of property taxation that is based on alleged, estimated market value is arbitrary, subjective, capricious, unpredictable, and not rationally or objectively linked to the services attributable to a property;

We specifically ask that the following unfair aspects of the current system be eliminated:

1: Assessments based on the alleged desirability (market value) of a property, which in an often-volatile real estate market can be irrationally, emotionally and/or otherwise artificially inflated.

2: Assessments artificially high based on scarcity or limited availability demand exceeding supply, thus leading to long-time owners of properties being forced to sell because of excessive and punitive tax increases unrelated to provision of services e.g. cottages.

3: Assessments that result in a recurring, annual Capital Gains Tax property owners repeatedly taxed on an alleged but unrealized capital gain.

4: Assessments that are artificially low because they are obtained by differing processes and/or inconsistently subject to many exceptions, special categories, and adjustments - such as capping for groups that are able to mount an effective lobby. Influential people are also able to take advantage of special treatment afforded to agricultural or conservation lands such as horse-racing hobbyists qualifying as farmers.

5: Assessments that discourage home improvements and upkeep, since such work will potentially make the property more desirable to others and thus incur higher taxes.

6: Assessments resulting from the false assumption that owners of more desirable properties are wealthier and better able to pay high taxes than owners of less desirable properties.

7: Assessments resulting in a significant shift of the tax burden from owners of properties deemed less desirable, to owners of those that are purportedly more desirable either because of location or limited supply.

8: Assessments artificially affected by real estate speculators and by decisions of regulators who through unpredictable regulations, like the GTA Greenbelt, create an artificial shortage or otherwise influence the market value of particular types of properties.

9: Assessments bearing no logical/rational relationship to the costs incurred by municipalities and the province to supply those services that are funded by property taxes, nor to the quantity of those services available to or consumed by a particular property. In an age where we need to become more conscious of what we consume there should be rewards available to those who make fewer demands on governments, not tax punishments that have no linkage to actual service consumption. For example, someone who invests in green energy on their property would incur higher taxes as a result of making their property more desirable.

Therefore, we the undersigned Ontario citizens and property owners ask the provincial government to introduce legislation that will make the assessment system truly fair and predictable by eliminating the capricious and unpredictable nature of current assessment methods, to be replaced by objectively determined criteria that would be linked to the actual costs of the government services funded by property taxes.