Tax reform fight gains steam across Ontario
June 30, 2004
Thousand Islands, Ontario - "A growing number of our members are finding it increasingly difficult to afford their properties and are calling on us to do something about it," says David Bull, Executive Director of the Thousand Islands Area Residents Association (TIARA), speaking about the increasing shift of taxes onto waterfront properties. A recent listing of assessment increases by municipalities shows clearly that waterfront values across Ontario are rising much faster than non-waterfront, causing a widespread shift of tax onto waterfront property owners.
Like other cottage, ratepayer and lake associations, TIARA is taking action. It recently joined a growing coalition to support the fight for waterfront property tax reform. The Waterfront Ratepayers After Fair Taxation (WRAFT) is bringing together cottage and other resident waterfront associations from across Ontario to join the call for a more equitable tax system. In the past few months, associations have joined WRAFT from all over Ontario, from Lake of the Woods in northwestern Ontario down to the Bruce Peninsula and across Parry Sound-Muskoka and central Ontario eastward to the Quebec border.
Bull says TIARA first got wind of WRAFT from the President of the Charleston Lake Association, north of Brockville. Like that group, TIARA wants to preserve the character and environment of its area. In fact, Bull learned about WRAFT as a result of TIARA's membership in the 1000 Islands-Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve. With property assessments escalating the way they are, Bull worries about the mounting pressures on property owners, and in turn, pressure on the natural environment.
"We're seeing pressure on people to rent out or subdivide their properties just to be able to pay their taxes," says Bull, "and we're concerned about the increasing consumption of the natural shoreline. We feel we have an obligation to our members to explain and address the impact of rising assessments and resulting taxes have on our region, and we think we can do that most effectively by being part of WRAFT."
While concern for the natural environment is paramount for TIARA, the inequity of the current assessment system on its own is prompting members to speak out. "We've scrutinized tax records and the inequities scream from the pages," points out Bull. "It's so unfair."
Other associations to join WRAFT recently include the Wah Wah Taysee Association (Georgian Bay), Mallory Beach Ratepayers Association (Bruce Peninsula), Little Lake Joseph Association, Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association (near Kenora), Kahshe Lake Ratepayers Association, Houseys Rapids Lake Residents (Gravenhurst), Shawano Ratepayers Incorporated (Belleville), Upper Stoney Lake Association (Kawarthas), Cecebe Waterways (Almaguin Highlands), Morrison Lake Ratepayers Association, Gull and Silver Lakes Residents' Association and Lake Rosseau North Association. For a full list of members, visit www.wraft.com.
Background: WRAFT's mission is to achieve fairness in waterfront property taxation. Founded by the Muskoka Lakes Association, Township of Muskoka Lakes Ratepayers' Association, Lake of Bays Association and the Federation of Ontario Cottagers Associations, WRAFT works to halt any unfair shift of tax onto waterfront, find ways to mitigate rising property taxes and fight for property tax reform. Its founding members have been striving to bring fairness to the property tax system since 2002.
Contact:
Bob Topp, Executive Director, WRAFT
(416) 929-9885
wraft@sympatico.ca
www.wraft.com
Box 263
131 Bloor St. W.
Toronto
M5S 1R8