Vancouver Neighbourhood Declares 'Tax Resistance' Until Local Homeless Population Provided Shelter and Supports:
Residents of the Strathcona neighbourhood in East Vancouver, B.C., are pledging to withhold property tax payments until a local homeless encampment is dealt with by government officials. Local media in Vancouver are reporting that over 300 people are estimated to be living-rough in tents in the urban Strathcona park - a population which has grown throughout the summer.
Jamie Maclaren, a local resident whom began a petition to urge government officials into action - with the threat of withholding property taxes - told CTV News Vancouver that the petition is intended to be in solidarity with those in living in the park. Maclaren said that "we consider the campers – and the unhoused population of the Downtown Eastside – our neighbors and we're very sincere in that belief and expression. It's more a case of us wanting to see our neighbors and everyone in our community have safe and comfortable homes where they can find real community."
Read more from CTV News Vancouver here.
North Bay City Council Finds Success with Municipal Accommodation Tax:
The City Council of North Bay, Ontario, is declaring their relatively new Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) a success, after it collected $982,487 in revenues during its first year, in fiscal 2019. The tax - a 4% levy on all overnight accommodations in the City of North Bay (primarily hotels, motels, etc) - was introduced and passed by North Bay City Council in 2018, with 2019 being its first year of implementation.
The revenues earned from the tax are being split 60-40, with the former, larger amount, going to Tourism North Bay (a local non-profit charged with promoting the regions tourism industry), and the latter amount going to the City of North Bay. City Councillor Scott Robinson, speaking at a meeting of City Council, said that the city's allocation of the funds should be "tourism-related infrastructure projects, finance new projects or improve venue capacity and sustainability in order to strengthen the city’s ability to attract major tourism-related events."
Read more from BayToday.ca here and here.
Government of Alberta Deals with Tax Clash Between Rural Municipalities and Energy Industry:
The United Conservative Party Government of Alberta is finding itself in the middle of a potentially awkward clash between two of its most fervent bases of support - rural Alberta, and the oil and gas industry. At issue is a municipal property tax assessment regime which the oil and gas industry says is inflexible and routinely over-assesses unproductive wells and other energy production sites. However, municipalities across Alberta claim that a reduction in their assessments of oil and gas producing properties by the provincial government would lead to municipal budgetary shortfalls, and deep fiscal challenges.
The President of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA), Al Kemmere, told the Calgary Herald that "the only way to deal with this is to dramatically cut services, which will cut services to the oil and gas industry, or pass it along to all the other taxpayers, which is not a fair process." Conversely, Tristan Goodman, head of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada, told the Herald that "we are at a point now where this issue could contribute to fairly dramatic job loss within those rural communities if we can’t get some reasonable degree of taxation."
Read more from the Calgary Herald here.
OPINION: Home Renovation Tax Credits Can Help Restart the Canadian Economy Post-Pandemic:
Dave Wilkes, President of the Building Industry and Land Development Association, argues in a compelling piece for TheRecord.com that introducing new home renovation tax credits in Ontario could help stimulate the economy post-COVID-19.
Wilkes notes that "the residential renovation industry is essential to the GTA’s economic foundations, job creation, housing quality and long-term prosperity. According to the CHBA, in 2018, the home renovation and repair industry employed 152,993 people in the GTA. The industry in the region pays $9.4 billion in wages, and maintains and improves the largest single wealth-builder for many Canadian families with an investment value of $16.9 billion."
Read more from TheRecord.com here.