Quote:
Originally Posted by opendoor
Did you read the article? These people are sitting on a $4M asset with no money owing on it and are complaining they can't afford a $2K tax increase. Never mind the fact that as seniors, they are eligible to defer 100% of their tax bill (including the new one for $3M+ houses) until they sell their house. They don't have to front a dime and yet they're still complaining about a tax increase because their kids might get $3.95M when they die rather than $4M.
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People also never take into account the cost of supporting property within a city, when they look at the senior who's "paid off" their property. What about the ongoing infrastructure costs? The costs of maintaining roads, power lines, sewage, etc... Who's responsibility are those costs?
It's criminal how low property prices are in Canada, generally. We've got working people who cannot afford their own properties subsidizing these costs so that retired babyboomers can live cost free in an over sized property they don't use and can't physically maintain without assistance.
Calgary's property tax rates typically fluctuate between .3 - .4 %:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...cast-1.4320615
That's absurdly low, when compared to most developed nations. To put that into perspective, here are property taxes in the UK:
0% up to £125,000
2% between £125,001 and £250,000
5% between £250,001 and £925,0000
10% between £925,001 £1,500,000
12% on anything over £1,500,000
There is no accountability under the current Canadian property tax regime. The real cost of maintaining property is subsidized via income tax.