Response to Guest Column by Councillor Golden
Between the pushing and pulling of Municipal tax rates, I do wonder what the big picture shape of paid taxes looks like on the Northern Saugeen Bruce Peninsula and how evenly dispersed tax increases have been applied amongst residents, farmers (registered and unregistered), commercial operations – for all of the tax rates.
For example, we were one of the households that experienced a 6% increase in 2024. That now puts our household taxes slightly short of $8k per year on our 100 X 300 foot lot facing Georgian Bay. We do not have riparian rights. In 2021 our tax bill was $6,716. This works out to an 18% increase over the last 3 years. As retirees, compounding tax rates at 6%, year over year, will render our property unaffordable in the future.
Way back in 2019, when a waterfront property with 535 acres on Cape Chin was languishing on the market for multiple years, like others, Tim and I kicked the tires. As fulltime residents, the 3km driveway in winter, the wet moldy basement, deteriorating wood fascia and soffits, 1970’s wood frame windows, lack of insulation and low ceilings in the basement, made purchase untenable for us. What also surprised us were the taxes. The American owners of the property were paying around $15K for their 1 km of waterfront and 535 acres of land. This was slightly over twice what we were paying for our sliver of heaven. If we translated residential tax rate to their $15,000, they should have been vacationing on 250 ft of waterfront on a double wide lot – not over a km of waterfront and 535 acres! The reason for this amazing tax deal was that they were zoned “Agricultural”. Yes, they rented the property part of their waterfront estate to local farmers – and not the ones setting our taxes – but I did realize in that instant that the Municipal tax system was and is preferential. All residential and vacation homes are not treated equally.
I respectfully ask: has the Municipality considered the optics of waterfront country club “cottages” enjoying a semi-free tax ride under the auspices of “agricultural” zoning, grandfather clauses or any other sweetheart tax deals chugging along quietly in the background? Is there a Friends and Family Plan the rest of us can get in on? What is the high-level process of setting tax rates across the Municipality? If only one or two individuals are evaluating all of the properties each year, it is not unreasonable to think that there are instances where preferential tax rates are flying under the radar.
Though there are a limited number of Councillors generous enough to get up in the morning to help run the Municipality, the optics of establishing tax rates would appear more objective to those of us shouldering an 18% increase if representatives from a cross section of property ownership formed a task force to evaluate and recommend local tax rates.
To be clear, landowners who actually farm should benefit from a reduced “Agricultural” tax rate. The recent “Beyond the Fenceline” mail flyer encourages that a valid farm business registration (FBR status) should be kept on file for each farm to support agricultural tax rates or suffer the consequences of the exorbitant Residential Property Tax Class (and it is no picnic from this side of the fence!).
A group with mixed tax base representation should work collectively to arrive at tax rates.
Finally, I fully support the Municipality advocating for a better slice of the pie related to County transfers as well as taxes from Provincial/Federal Conservation lands but I am also convinced that there are opportunities for a fairer distribution of the tax burden closer to home as the taxes listed with local property sales, indicate the situation is otherwise.
Tamara Wilson
Lion’s Head