Municipal taxes for Seniors

A difficult topis as many homeowners, seniors or not, are having trouble with municipal taxes (and expenses in general). By freezing taxes for one segment, we increase the overall debt on another. This needs more discussion. In the meantime you can refer to the Provincial Land Tax deferral program. Use this link for my website, click on button #3. There is also a Municipal Tax review link for instances when your property use has shifted to a lower tax tier or if the assessment can be lowered due to needed repairs, etc. Please refer to button 9.

peterforward7.ca

Helping seniors stay in their homes matters to me, and keeping taxes low is one of my main promises. I have to be straight with you, though — council sets the tax rate every year, so no bylaw can lock in a freeze for five years, and I won't promise something I can't deliver. What I will do is fight to keep taxes as low as possible for everyone, and support tax relief for low-income seniors, so nobody gets taxed out of their home.

I think that such a by-law would be wonderful but I'm not sure how realistic it is given the cost of goods and services, and the expectations people have around maintaining (and even adding to) existing service levels. With Development Charges not flowing in currently, taxation and user fees are supporting our Town. And, there are people amongst us that are not currently feeling the pain of inflation, recession, tariffs or fixed-incomes. Rather than a blanket approach to freezing taxes, I think it would be a much better idea to discuss an option to apply for an exemption from increases, or move certain services to a "pay per use" model whereby only those receiving the services are actually charged. This of course would also be costly for the municipality to organize and enforce and could create other imbalances or confusion. But it's a great question and one I think we could look at in the next term of council. Thank you for asking.

I would support other ways in assisting our residents.

Seems like a reasonable request, many seniors have a fixed income and have to manage rapidly rising costs. Factors such as fuel prices and de-icing salt will have an immediate impact on the cost of services this winter.

While I too would like a freeze on tax increments, more data is needed to make any meaningful commitment. In principle I do agree with the idea at least for this budget year until I have a clearer picture of the actual expenditure and cost reduction measures. My focus is on the services being of value for the cost and establishing a better return for our tax dollars.

Exploring additional ways to support our seniors is a high priority. Accessible services, transportation and anything that can uplift the dignity and independence of our marginalized residents will get my full attention.