Nova Scotia enacts legislation to cap future assessment increases
September 15, 2004
In the six months since its formation in February, WRAFT has concentrated its efforts on five areas:
- Building membership. In addition to its founding members, MLA, TMLRA, LOBA and FOCA, 48 associations have signed up as members. We are almost half-way towards our target of 100 members by year-end. We have to date communicated with some 700 associations and are lining up representatives in various regions who will help encourage WRAFT membership. We have also spoken at a number of association annual meetings and communicated directly with numerous association executives across the province.
- Researching impact of assessment and tax shifts onto waterfront across Ontario. We have obtained an analysis by municipality across Ontario of average waterfront assessment increases compared to non-waterfront increases over the period 1999 through 2003. This has confirmed that the tax shift onto waterfront is province-wide.
Analysis of Assessment Increases 1999-2003 Total municipalities with waterfront properties 383 Deduct those with less than 50 waterfront properties 105 278 Townships where waterfront %age increases exceeded non-waterfront 221 (80%)
Areas hardest hit over that 4 year period were Muskoka, Seguin, Lake Huron from Port Elgin all the way to Sarnia, large parts of Georgian Bay, Lake Simcoe, eastern parts of Lake Ontario, the shores of the St. Lawrence, the Kawarthas and Haliburton. Many other Ontario areas also showed significant increases in waterfront value and resultant tax shifts. Maps are being prepared highlighting areas of greatest assessment shift for use in attracting members and demonstrating extent of inequity to government. - Identifying tax reform strategies. There are many precedents for improved equity in property tax distribution. We are analyzing alternative systems including those in other jurisdictions which deal specifically with shifts of tax onto waterfront. This research is currently underway.
- Financing WRAFT activities. There are three sources of funds to cover WRAFT requirements:
- Seed money from founding associations
- Fees from member associations
- Fundraising. Fundraising is currently underway within the membership of the founding associations and will be broadened in the months ahead. It is projected that $200,000 will be required to cover data gathering, research, communication and lobbying efforts up to the end of 2005. Combining the three sources of funds we are now over half-way towards our objective.
- Communications. We have prepared a brochure which has been widely disseminated and is available for association meetings by contacting wraft@sympatico.ca. Our website, www.wraft.com was launched in June. It contains background on WRAFT, frequently asked questions, latest developments and instructions for joining WRAFT. In addition we have had newspaper coverage in the Globe and Mail, The National Post, the Muskokan and a few regional papers. We have also spoken at a number of association annual meetings.
Bob Topp
Executive Director