Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
Commercial property tax makes up about 55% of the city’s tax revenue stream The remaining 45% is funded by residential.
So if an Airdrie person commutes on a provincial highway up to memorial drive where they turn off into downtown. A Calgary business is paying property tax to employ this person.
So for the cost of the extra road congestion between downtown and Deerfoot the city of Calgary realizes that benefit without having to provide services to that individual. No police, No fire, No transit, No rec facilities, no local road maintenance
I used to believe in the parasite concept but no longer do after talking to some of the planners in Okotoks whose biggest challenges are developing a business property tax base when so many people leave the city every day. I can’t find a solid link to the data but homeowners in these areas pay a greater portion (not necessarily a greater absolute number) of the property taxes then in Calgary.
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I'm confused by this. The business is paying the taxes, which means they are paying for the services. Does a business not need police, fire, transit, and roads? The employee is also using those services if they get in an accident, and they also use roads that aren't Deerfoot. It also puts a greater stress on the most congested roads that are unable to be expanded becuase the city can't provide transit for those users which is much more efficient.