[SteelTown]

Hamilton is the highest taxed city in Canada
Jan, 21 2008 - 8:00 AM

HAMILTON (AM900 CHML) - As Hamilton city councillors struggle with ways to prevent a six percent property tax hike, there's word Hamilton residents already pay the highest taxes in the country.

The study conducted by the city of Edmonton compares property taxes and utilities for 25 to 30-year old, three bedroom bungalows with a finished basement and double garage.

In Hamilton, the property tax on that kind of home is more than 42-hundred dollars.

That's almost 15-hundred dollars more than the lowest taxed city in the survey, Winnipeg.

Hamilton came in the highest taxed city.

Brampton was second.

Toronto was eighth.

[SteelTown]

This does not surprise me one bit. Am sure it's the same for all us Hamiltonian forumers.

Yet somehow we're supposed to reduce the poverty in the city but we're the highest taxed city in Canada. How's that going to be possible if we don't get any assistance from the Feds or the Province?

[DC83]

^^ OMG we posted at the same time! hahaha Mine's in Business/Economics section

[matt602]

Yet it somehow costs more to live in Toronto...

[raisethehammer]

let's kill one of these threads....we don't need 2.

[go_leafs_go02]

i swear London's is higher. But I can't guarantee that.

if we are, where is this tax money going? You would think that Hamilton would be a beautiful city where natural beautification and urban renewal would be front and centre.

[SteelTown]

^ Welfare

[go_leafs_go02]

is that a municipal problem?

I always believed that the feds and to some extent the province were responsible for that.

[raisethehammer]

until I see this report, I don't believe it.
CHML only mentions one exact type of house being assessed. If that's their idea of gauging the entire tax structure of a city then this report is trash.

[SteelTown]

is that a municipal problem?

I always believed that the feds and to some extent the province were responsible for that.

No, Mike Harris downloaded welfare onto municipalities and Hamilton having the highest poverty rate doesn't help us. Hamilton has the highest number of welfare complainants in Ontario.

[go_leafs_go02]

No, Mike Harris downloaded welfare onto municipalities and Hamilton having the highest poverty rate doesn't help us. Hamilton has the highest number of welfare complainants in Ontario.
Oh ok, that makes sense then. Lame, but what can you do about that. No wonder Hamilton has such problems revitalizing areas of the city.

[SteelTown]

Have the province upload the welfare service to free up the city's revenue to either cut taxes or spend on infrastructure. Which is something Dalton promised in the last election, just waiting for the report to be tabled.

[Goldfinger]

The best thing to do is to start clawing back Municipally funded social programs and start moving people into Toronto where funding is shared. It's a cycle we cannot afford any longer. The poor look at Hamilton as a great place with lots of cheap housing and excellent social agencies. This then becomes a magnet for all kinds of people from everywhere.

The best way to reduce poverty here is to stop attracting it. One of the biggest problems here is that we have a incompetent city council that is accountable to no one and has the power to raise taxes at will.

[raisethehammer]

The best thing to do is to start clawing back Municipally funded social programs and start moving people into Toronto where funding is shared. It's a cycle we cannot afford any longer. The poor look at Hamilton as a great place with lots of cheap housing and excellent social agencies. This then becomes a magnet for all kinds of people from everywhere.

The best way to reduce poverty here is to stop attracting it. One of the biggest problems here is that we have a incompetent city council that is accountable to no one and has the power to raise taxes at will.


great comments here, although it goes much deeper than council just being 'incompetent'.
In fact, they have been extremely competent at providing zoning, highways and land for more sprawl in recent decades - all of which drain the economy financially. Instead of trying to attract new business and jobs to Hamilton we've spent all of our time attracting more cardboard box homes in no-man's land. We've literally seen business pass us by because we've been 'too competent' at focusing on all the wrong things.
Now the tax base is something like 80-20 residential instead of a more healthy 50-50 split, or even like back in Hamilton's heyday when it was 70-30 industry.
We need real leadership in this city not the bullcrap we've been getting from backroom crooks like DiIanni and Cooke simply trying to fatten the pockets of their buddies and post-political career employers. They've been destroying our city and the people who vote them in a 2nd time deserve exactly the kind of city we've got.

[markbarbera]

From today's Spec (http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/313077):

Highest tax rate in Canada? Mayor calls ranking criteria unfair

January 22, 2008
The Hamilton Spectator

Hamilton is earning national attention for an unfortunate title: highest taxes in Canada.

A new study from the City of Edmonton ranked Hamilton as the most expensive of 24 cities in 2007, when it came to paying taxes and utilities. The price tag of $4,226 was picked up by media across the country.

But Hamilton's mayor and its city's finance chief argue the ranking isn't fair -- Hamilton's taxes are high, but they aren't the worst.

"It's really not a fair apples to apples comparison," Fred Eisenberger said yesterday, as the study was making the rounds of city hall.

Hamilton ranked as the most expensive for property taxes and utilities based on a 25- to 30-year-old detached three bedroom bungalow with a main floor of 1,200 square feet, finished basement and two-car garage on a 6,000 square foot lot. Brampton was second, followed by Grand Prairie, Alta., and London.

But Rinaldo says the ranking isn't fair because the sample house would be considered above average here, but small in more affluent communities. A better comparison, he argues, is to compare taxes for an average house in each city. In that ranking, Hamilton fares better -- $4,027 for combined taxes and utilities -- but still in the top five. Toronto is the worst.

Hamilton ranks high when factoring in taxes relative to income due to a high poverty rate.

"Our ability to pay is much, much lower," said Rinaldo.

He notes most of the highest-taxed cities in the report are in Ontario, where municipalities must pay for downloaded social services. In Hamilton, the expense represents nearly $475 on the average bill. If you subtract that figure, Hamilton is very comparable to other major cities like Calgary, noted Eisenberger.

"We're right in their league."

[raisethehammer]

CHML is such a horrible news outlet. They just copy stuff from the Spec everyday and do zero research.
this report is such a piece of crap and yet they talk about it all day as if it's true.
Brutal.

[the dude]

The best thing to do is to start clawing back Municipally funded social programs and start moving people into Toronto where funding is shared. It's a cycle we cannot afford any longer. The poor look at Hamilton as a great place with lots of cheap housing and excellent social agencies. This then becomes a magnet for all kinds of people from everywhere.

The best way to reduce poverty here is to stop attracting it. One of the biggest problems here is that we have a incompetent city council that is accountable to no one and has the power to raise taxes at will.

mmmmm, so charitable.

seriously, do you suggest we herd the poor onto boxcars headed to the gta? government has a responsibilty to serve its citizens, be they rich or poor. this city and the other levels of gov't, spend shitloads subsidizing the ridiculous lifestyles of the middle and upper classes. we all wanna live like kings, right? the least we can do as a city is support those who have been denied access to our abundance.

[DC83]

^^ Great point, Dude. Often people forget that most of these people are in their situation due to issues that were beyond their control.

But Toronto ships it's needy to Hamilton via GO bus!

[Goldfinger]

mmmmm, so charitable.

seriously, do you suggest we herd the poor onto boxcars headed to the gta? government has a responsibilty to serve its citizens, be they rich or poor. this city and the other levels of gov't, spend shitloads subsidizing the ridiculous lifestyles of the middle and upper classes. we all wanna live like kings, right? the least we can do as a city is support those who have been denied access to our abundance.

mmmmm, so liberal.

You have the same flaw in thinking as most other left wingers. There is no such thing as "abundance", "free healthcare" or "free education". Canadians love their socialism, but many don't understand that all these programs cost a fortune to run and maintain. With a bloated, union driven public bureaucracy (much like what's going in with the City unions right now), costs are out of control with no end in sight. Worst of all, they expect the bad business people who create the wealth in this country to pay for it all. I am sick of being told that I have to pay more taxes for entitlements.

I am not denying anyone anything.

[markbarbera]

seriously, do you suggest we herd the poor onto boxcars headed to the gta? government has a responsibilty to serve its citizens, be they rich or poor. this city and the other levels of gov't, spend shitloads subsidizing the ridiculous lifestyles of the middle and upper classes. we all wanna live like kings, right? the least we can do as a city is support those who have been denied access to our abundance.

Why ship the poor off to another region? We should really solve the problem at its root and euthanize the poor!

Personally, I don't find my tax level high at all. You get what you pay for. Social services aside, there are plenty of city services this city offers that are unheard of in many other municipalities. Having lived in both Ottawa and Toronto, I am amazed at the advanced recycling facilities available here. Compared to Toronto, there are many more recreational facilities and urban parkland available for enjoyment here, which all do not come cheaply. And, the fact that we have not clawed back social services because its expensive is testiment to the kind of people who call Hamilton home - we help those who need help.

Now, if we can build up the corporate tax base then the burden on residential tax base would lighten. Hopefully McCabe's efforts to make Hamilton once again business friendly will pay back in spades.

[markbarbera]

I am sick of being told that I have to pay more taxes for entitlement.

You always have the option to move to a municipality with taxation and social policy that more closely matches your political and philisophical outlook. Heck, you could probably easily recruit some forumers here to help you pack!

[raisethehammer]

mmmmm, so liberal.

You have the same flaw in thinking as most other left wingers. There is no such thing as "abundance", "free healthcare" or "free education". Canadians love their socialism, but many don't understand that all these programs cost a fortune to run and maintain. With a bloated, union driven public bureaucracy (much like what's going in with the City unions right now), costs are out of control with no end in sight. Worst of all, they expect the bad business people who create the wealth in this country to pay for it all. I am sick of being told that I have to pay more taxes for entitlements.

I am not denying anyone anything.



suburban sprawl is the largest social program in the history of North America. And guess who paid for it? Existing taxpayers - both RICH AND POOR.
In Hamilton we have stolen hundreds of millions of urban/inner city tax dollars for decades in order to subsidize Mr. 2 SUV's in the driveway in the Meadowlands.
You don't want to pay more taxes or tolls or 50 cents at a parking meter, but don't mind the poorest people in Hamilton needing for fork over hundreds of extra dollars to ride a crappy transit system and have city beauracrats raping and pillaging all of their tax dollars in order to 'invest' (read - highways, wider roads etc....) them somewhere else.
Get real.

[Goldfinger]

You always have the option to move to a municipality with taxation and social policy that more closely matches your political and philisophical outlook. Heck, you could probably easily recruit some forumers here to help you pack!

That's already happening you dumbass! That's my point.

You can clearly see the results of wealth flight starting from Burlington Street and working it's way South.

Once the city finishes bleeding everyone and chasing the remaining wealth out, we should be as poor and crime ridden as Detroit is in less than 10 years.

[markbarbera]

The main thing you seem to forget is that our tax levels are comparable to all other major municipalities in Ontario, so you really aren't any better off moving away, unless you move to a smaller CMA with inferior services.

(Notice I managed to reply without calling you a 'dumbass'. Maybe you can extend the same coutesy, but I expect not)

[matt602]

^^ Great point, Dude. Often people forget that most of these people are in their situation due to issues that were beyond their control.

But Toronto ships it's needy to Hamilton via GO bus!

Funny that you say that. That's *exactly* how my family got here 7 years ago. It was either Hamilton or Oshawa for some reason. I'm glad we went for Hamilton.

[raisethehammer]

That's already happening you dumbass! That's my point.

You can clearly see the results of wealth flight starting from Burlington Street and working it's way South.

Once the city finishes bleeding everyone and chasing the remaining wealth out, we should be as poor and crime ridden as Detroit is in less than 10 years.


you're a real class act.

[flar]

Once the city finishes bleeding everyone and chasing the remaining wealth out, we should be as poor and crime ridden as Detroit is in less than 10 years.

Unlikely, Detroit lost nearly a million residents. We have barely a handful of abandoned houses and crime rates comparable to Kitchener and London.

[raisethehammer]

never mind 'unlikely'. it's completely far-fetched and impossible.
Hamilton is well poised for growth and will never become like Detroit or Buffalo. We've got more chance of becoming like Montreal before we become like one of those 2 cities.