Comment 103348

By RobF (registered) | Posted July 21, 2014 at 22:49:57 in reply to Comment 103338

I didn't say it would benefit you. Or at least not in the rather parochial way you are framing it.

The question was how does it benefit people on the mountain or elsewhere that don't benefit directly from transit improvements ... i.e. why should they care, and ultimately support LRT.

I'm only partially sympathetic to the argument that you'll have to pay increased taxes ... the value of your property (i.e. your equity) is increased through no real effort of your own. Cities don't run on love. They are legally corporations for a reason. They need tax revenue to pay for needed infrastructure (construction and maintenance) and services that contribute to QOL. We have to pay for that whether our property values go up or not.

A second point: the main boost to the tax-base, however, isn't from rising house prices and assessments. It's from infilling and redevelopment that creates new revenue, because the land is being used more intensively. Think of parking lots and vacant properties that go from paying very little tax to being real contributors, because they generate greater land rent per square foot.

Finally, you have heard that if US Steel exits Hamilton entirely that that is over $20 million in taxes that largely vanishes. The city can't run a deficit on operating costs, so picture what a hole like that in our budget will mean.

Comment edited by RobF on 2014-07-21 22:55:32

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