When it comes to property taxes, everything is relative

My property taxes in an older neighborhood in east Toronto are almost exactly the same — $4,700 — as the Kanata resident who thinks I should pay more.

Here are the differences: his house is 2,000 square feet; mine is barely 1100 and it’s a semi. His lot is 3,500 square feet, mine is 1,900. Here’s another difference: Since his lot is almost twice the size of mine, my one-block street that has 16 houses wouldn’t fit. probably only six or seven of his suburban homes, and would therefore generate less than half of my street’s tax revenue. .

At this low density, it would also cost the city twice as much to provide services like sewer, trash removal, and snow removal, which property taxes were originally supposed to cover. The only thing she looks at is that due to a lack of government housing policies at all levels for 30 years resulting in a housing crisis, the modest house I bought there is 25 for $181,000 is now worth over a million dollars – if I sell it.

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