Regional councillor calling for new tax deal with province

With no relief to the cost of living crisis in sight, one local councillor is calling for a provincial tax overhaul to help keep finances in check.

Regional Councillor for Cambridge, Doug Craig, told The Mike Farwell Show, the offloading of provincial costs onto municipalities is direct reason for skyrocketing property taxes and that there is only so much the average homeowner can shoulder.

“It’s not a fair system because it doesn’t reflect the ability of an individual to be able to pay that tax. People may own a home or be paying a mortgage but it doesn’t mean they can automatically pay any sort of increase on property tax.”

By shifting those costs to municipalities, those communities are forced to increase property taxes to make-up for the added costs. That in turn adds to the cost of living and the homelessness crisis.

Craig points out that it’s not like the provincial government is hurting for revenue.

“In terms of personal income tax, gas tax, HST, all of these things. You’re looking at billions of dollars leaving the Region of Waterloo on an annual basis. It’s an enormous amount of money.”

He said if the province were to return even a small portion of the tax revenue it collects to municipalities, it would be game changer come budget time and really help the communities.

“Annually from the HST, the province is taking $1.6 billion out of the Region of Waterloo. I just simply want one per cent point. That would be $200 million a year that would stay in the Region of Waterloo.”

He said that kind of money would go a long to way in efforts to address homelessness, the housing shortage and addictions.

In the end, Craig believes all upper levels of government need to reevaluate how tax revenue is collected and distributed to ensure it is fair and no one sector bears the brunt.

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