Quote:
Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen
So what's your argument. Are you going to suggest that the other 10 mobile home parks in Calgary should not be required to pay property tax, in fact be refunded for it, and the residents renting land should never have to face the chance of having to move either?
Simple fact is, they agreed to as much when they started renting at Midfield. They knew they were renting, they didn't buy the land, they knew they would have to pay the property tax for the value of their assessed home on the land, they knew there was a chance that they would be required to move. If they didn't, they were ignorant, and that's on them. Again, I agree it sucks for those who were banking on East Hills Estates, but many people had just as much to complain about for that, and some are probably happy they got the $10,000 compensation instead of a lot in East Hills Estates. The City went out of their way to try and help them in a sucky situation. You've already admitted that the City went far above and beyond what any private company would have done - and acting as a private company really in this endeavor, the residents should be 'thankful'. A lot of people have been put in sucky situations over the years and not had the City do anything for them.
|
No, of course not. But private landlords and the city of Calgary are different in a lot of ways. The city is responsible for affordable housing, a benefit to all residences. They have a mandate to provide housing. The city is responsible for fair and equitable payouts to real estate owners in the event of annexation. No one else in the city is required to accept less than assessed value. The city has a reasonable fiduciary requirement to all citizens.
All private landlords need to do is make as much money while following the law.
The only thing that needs to happen is for the owners to be paid out based on the city assessed value of their home. The city itself said the trailers are worth this much. They charged taxes based on that much. Pay them out that much. It's not even going to be much more than they already are paying out.
Another word about mobile homes is that they are not mobile. They're actually called manufactured homes. They're not meant to move. They are meant to be cheap alternatives to expensive housing.
Another thing is the failing infrastructure. Those pipes are no different than any others in the city. Your property tax pays for them to be fixed literally all the time. Except in this park. Even requiring the tenants to assume a portion of the repair, the portion of pipes on their lot for example, is totally acceptable and fair.