Wraft Says Ontario Budget Ignores Plight of Waterfront Property Owners
May 12, 2005 - WRAFT (Waterfront Ratepayers After Fair Taxation), an Ontario wide organization representing waterfront property owners, says that the recent Ontario budget ignores the increasingly desperate plight of tax paying Ontario waterfront property owners.
"We recognize that the Ontario Government is facing difficult financial challenges. However, we also know that the circumstances of many Ontario property owners are even worse as they face forty to fifty percent annual increases in their property taxes," commented Bob Topp, Executive Director of WRAFT.
In last year's budget, the Ontario Government promised to "address taxpayer concerns with assessment volatility" and "develop tools that ensure fairness for all property owners". This has not yet been done. In addition to the absolute increases in property taxes experienced by individual taxpayers, waterfront taxpayers as a group are paying a disproportionate share of municipal taxation and yet most are only consuming services on a seasonal basis.
"This situation requires the Ontario Government to act responsibly and promptly before many average income property owners are forced off their properties. WRAFT has carefully and thoroughly researched the experiences and decisions of other jurisdictions that have faced similar situations as a result of current value assessment regimes. Based on this research, WRAFT has proposed reasonable means to solve the problem at no cost to the province, but recognizes that the Government may need time to consider them. Therefore, WRAFT calls upon the Government to defer the implementation of the 2005 assessment until a more equitable tax system can be put in place," Topp stated.