Raise the Hammer

While all nice and good to say the province should pay more, the problem is that since we pay provincial tax we would just see our tax payments increase elsewhere. The services we receive are a function of our tax dollars at three levels. To shift payment between the three does not in essense change the total taxes payable for said services. To portray this as an injustice is in error.

I won't pretend to totally understand this but would the fact that the burden switches to the provincial level mean that cost is spread across a province and mean a less overall tax burden in the long run for Hamiltonians rather then the current situation of us paying for all these costs?

Hamilton offers a hell of a lot of services other communities don't from my understanding so if people are specifically relocating to Hamilton or closer to it to utilize these services, why should the Hamilton taxpayer alone have to cover these costs?

I am not big on this whole suing our own government none sense however (aka Red Hill). We all lose there it seems in one way or another.

Does the City of Hamilton as a business entity have to pay separate provincial taxes? Can we instead withhold payment if they don't recognize this recent ruling and agree to pay us back or at least start covering these costs going forward? I guess that might mean the Province in turn sues us instead but there has to be another way to drive this home in a way that makes it a no brainer for them to adjust these costs?

Thank you for this information Terry!

I have a hard time launching a law suit against another level of Government because; simply stated, it becomes my tax dollars in conflict and ultimately shuffled...

This article really hits home for me and as I read it...I too am in the EXACT situation!
How do I respectively as the City of Hamilton, to lower my taxes because I too am restricted (site specific), yet pay FULL COMMERCIAL taxes?

Any way of decreasing my $38,000.00 annual tax bill to the City would be greatly appreciated...
For the RTH readers...I have NO AMMENITIES, The City classifies me as 'RURAL', I AM SITE SPECIFIC AND THUS FAR NOT ALLOWED TO DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN AN ANTIQUE & FLEA MARKET...Yet I pay over $3200.00 per month in taxes...and I am open at the most two days per week.

Love that you are bringing this up Terry! How do we change the errors without law suits would be the question I pose back to you :)

Have an amazing day Everyone!

Danya

What I don't understand is why Hamilton's property tax seems to be double that of Toronto, and higher than other places like Kitchener and Guelph. I've been trying to find an answer online but I can't seem to find that is definitive.

One problem is the city's tax base has become very unbalanced over the past few decades. Residential properties bear far too great a proportion of the total assessment, compared to industrial/commercial property.

Two of the biggest reasons for this are probably the decline of heavy capital-intensive industry, and the city's failure to attract enough new business to compensate for that loss.

This is another reason why increasing local employment by attracting new firms or growing existing ones is so important; the benefit is not just local jobs for city residents, but a more sustainable tax structure for the city. But it's a long process, especially since SMEs make up such a large portion of business, and development of major facilities (like those of Maple Leaf) doesn't happen very often.

Hamilton's economy is very much in transition, and that will continue for a long time. But hopefully the tax base will gradually shift back to something more balanced.

EDIT - One element of Hamilton's transition relates back to the point raised in the original article: Hamilton's institutional employment has grown, as medical and educational facilities have been growing and developing. But if they're not paying a "fair" rate, the effect of that growth on the tax base is negligible. (Of course, those facilities do have other positive economic effects, but not in the same way as something like a new manufacturing facility or office complex)

Comment edited by ScreamingViking on 2012-06-24 23:19:47

Because there aren't enough people living here to cover the expenses of a city that is this large geographically. We should have a total population of a million with six or seven hundred thousand of those living in the "old city".

Unfortunately, we drained our downtown of residents through 50 years of bad luck and bad decisions.

The city needs to realize that the promises made by sprawl developers are empty ones, and the desire of outsiders to speed through the city is one of many direct causes of our high taxes.

Although I don't have the history to recognize the trend of increasing taxes in this community, I do realize there is a huge concern directly related to the assessment approach in our community.

We were looking at a home a month ago in Ancaster and current taxes on the home were about $6000...if the home is purchased at the $1.2 million, what will happen to this tax bill each year? Well, we have watched a home down the road go from this exact tax bill and currently, they sit at $13,000 per year just cause the home sold 4 years ago. Should there not be a cap on tax hikes - this is totally unethical. Moreover, this money is going to a support decision-makes who have mismanaged the city.

I am not convinced we have much control and if we alter tax contributions in one component, we will certainly have to increase towards another...