Years of steep tax hikes by Toronto politicians have made the city unaffordable for most families. Anyone running for mayor owes taxpayers a clear plan to make it easier to make ends meet, and that starts with a real plan to cut taxes.
Olivia Chow's tax record
When Olivia Chow won the 2023 mayoral byelection, she made big promises to taxpayers. “I’m driven by a common belief that everyone should have an affordable place to live,” Chow said during her election night victory speech. But Chow has been hiking taxes that make Toronto less affordable for everyone. Almost immediately after assuming office, Chow delivered a 9.5% property tax hike, the harshest property tax hike Torontonians had seen in more than 25 years. Then Chow hiked the hotel tax by 42% on visitors to Toronto, a tax that costs families who spend the night in the city to catch a Jays game or see a specialist at Toronto General Hospital. Chow also increased the land transfer tax, vacant homes tax and industrial property tax during her three years in power.
Tax hikes the norm at city hall
Unfortunately, Chow’s tax-hiking ways are nothing new at Toronto City Hall. Mayor after mayor has hit Torontonians with major tax hikes. City hall has hammered Torontonians with a 56% property tax increase over the last 10 years, about double the rate of inflation over the same period. Does anyone in Toronto think they’re getting 56% better service from the city? A homeowner who paid a $4,000 property tax bill in 2016 is now paying about $6,240 in property taxes before any assessment changes. But that hides the real cost because most Toronto homeowners have seen their property assessments jet upward over the past decade.
Boondoggle of building charges
Toronto politicians have hiked development charges by 1,060% since 2009. That is not a typo. City hall hiked development charges 22.6 times the rate of inflation in under two decades. City hall used to charge builders $12,366 on a single or semi-detached home in 2009. Now builders must cough up $143,409. For contrast, the City of Calgary’s average building tax on a new home is $22,600. It is no wonder why Toronto is home to one of the least affordable housing markets in North America. Taxes are going up so quickly for Torontonians because of a lack of responsible leadership from mayors. Toronto needs a mayor who would be willing to cut government spending and root out waste.
Former mayor John Tory promised he would not increase property taxes above the rate of inflation. But with a little creative accounting, Tory pushed property tax hikes above the rate of inflation with the new City Building Levy, a second property tax in disguise. Chow is demonstrating a similar lack of discipline, hiking taxes to massively increase government spending.
Taxpayers getting little in return
What are Toronto taxpayers getting in return for their bloated tax bill? A whole lot of nothing. Last year, city hall wasted nearly $2,000 on a plaque commemorating a raccoon that died 10 years ago. And city hall wasted $200,000 on sex supplies like condoms and lubricant for attendees of this year’s World Cup games. Torontonians were promised two new train stations at King-Liberty and Finch-Kennedy, but both were cancelled after the project was bungled by city hall and provincial bureaucrats at Metrolinx. In return for a non-existent train station, Ontario and Toronto taxpayers were handed a $97-million bill. Think of that the next time you pay your taxes.
A real leader in the mayor’s office would shoot down bad ideas that would waste huge amounts of money and make life less affordable through higher property taxes. There is a lot on the line for Torontonians in October’s municipal elections. As candidates launch their campaigns, they should be asking themselves a simple question: “How am I going to deliver for taxpayers?” That means sparing taxpayers from massive property tax hikes, cutting development charges and putting an end to bad ideas that waste countless taxpayer dollars.
Jarvis is the Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
