[Table 5]

Ok, well I guess since this was directed my way...

Originally Posted by Slava

First, the issue of people paying more taxes (and "more than their fair share") is cute. I feel for you. Thing is that a) you knew that or ought to have before you decided to buy there and b) you issue is with the market value tax system and not with how the spending is completed. If the tax system was based on square footage,lot size or just split evenly regardless of where you are in the city then everything would be fine. In other words, the issue here isn't really urban sprawl, but its a matter of ,disliking the tax system as it is. That's fine, but call it what it is.

Second, I dislike the notion that "schmucks" like me (your term here, not mine) who don't live in the inner city are some how being placated with inner city money. Those of us in the suburbs aren't receiving any special treatment. Most of the things we demand from the city are pretty basic; a traffic system so that we can get to work and be productive, a reasonable infrastructure so that we can go to the ice rink, library, golf courses or other amenities.

I have no issues with my tax bill numbers wise. Frankly, I think Calgary property taxes are pretty low compared to a lot of places (Im coming from a state where my property taxes would probably be at least 5x the amount I'm paying. And I know that my taxes are higher because I live in a more central location that is perceived as more desirable. I'm A-ok with that.

What I do have a problem with is subsidizing new communities and continuing the trend of stretching out city resources without them paying the true cost. Communities where the city is spending a ton of money building new roads, infrastructure, and other amenities, but where the residents have to pay a fraction of the taxes compared to the rest of us. And with every new community, the roads that need to be maintained are stretched out, the pipes are stretched out, we need more cops and firemen…..it's an endless cycle of inefficiency compared to how many people use them. Somebody has to pay for all this….yet, it never really seems to truly be the residents of these communities.

Strictly speaking, at the end of the day, spending $1 in the inner city is more efficient than spending $1 in a suburb. If you build, say a small park in my neighborhood, it has the potential to be used by hundreds of thousands of people (including those from the suburbs). If you build a park in Silverado, it has a catch area of a few thousand at best. Yet, chances are the cost to build it will be fairly similar. And it's not like any other suburbanite will use your facilities either. Because someone in Tuscany will never go to Silverado either. So now we have to build all this stuff for every community that only certain people use, but everyone has to pay for.

Now I'm not saying that everything should be built in the inner city, but I think there needs to be a better balance, and a city should be spending it as efficiently as possible. Because even if our tax bills were exactly equal, it doesn't really represent the best interests of the city when so much of it has to go maintain the endless miles of suburbia.

And yes, you are right, I CHOSE to live in the inner city knowing that I have to pay higher taxes….but maybe you need to understand that you also CHOSE to live in Silverado (or wherever), so you should be ok with living with longer transportation times, less amenities, and being #35 on the priority list because there aren't enough of you. Or pay the price tax wise…up to you.

Our transit needs aren't even all that different.

Our transit needs are hugely different. You need heavy-rail and/or highway infrastructure just to get to work or go to to a mall. In an ideal (ie, not necessarily Calgary) inner-city situation, all I need is a bike-lane or a street-car/subway, or often times…a basis sidewalk. And even if I need a subway, I'm sharing it with hundreds of thousands of people….possibly even you. You're interchange in the middle of nowhere will never be used by anyone outside of a small section of the city.

I am tiring of the seeming elitist attitude of people in the inner city. I get that there are some advantages to living inner city, but there are also advantages to the suburbs.

Of course there are, I don't think I've ever said to the contrary. It's not good versus evil for me……hell, I'd love a yard and a garage and am mucho jealous if you have those. But I do have pretty strong convictions about the suburban lifestyle is a lot less sustainable for a city economically and environmentally. I'm more efficient, use less infrastructure dollars per capita, and share my amenities with more people…….yet I pay higher taxes. Why exactly?