When it comes to believers of big government, they never imagine that their EXISTING stupid FISCAL policies are the root cause of the housing crisis in Toronto.
There are consequences to government rent controls, there are consequences when the government tells a landlord that if their tenant doesn’t pay their rent the landlord can’t evict them.
People with homes will stop renting out their homes if the GOVERNMENT has more rights over their property than they do. In the 1980s and even the 1990s, everyone would be renting out their house, sometimes for as little as $20 a week, and say per week, because if the tenant didn’t pay, the landlord could them out.
I remind you that even back then, there was a homeless problem, but back then, we all knew why; the truth is some people are LAZY, irresponsible, and DESTRUCTIVE; it’s your right as a human to be lazy, irresponsible, and destructive; but it’s not my job as a landlord to REWARD your bad behavior.
The reason why SOCIALISM sucks is that some ABLE-BODIED people are lazy and would rather other people do the heavy lifting while they enjoy the spoils of the handwork of others.
When the government tries to manipulate nature, by imposing it’s own tyrannical edicts, the expected results are usually random. What comes to my mind when I think about this tax, is that as tyrannical as it is, people if forced will likely pay for it, the problem with imposing this tax, however, is that government has proven to be INCOMPOTENT when it receives additional taxes.
I believe the socialist lady who is the mayor of Toronto wants to spend 13 million dollars renaming “Dundas” street because of some ties the name has to racism. This is the FINANCIAL wisdom behind these idiots in government.
Building and maintaining housing isn’t cheap, there are a lot of EXISTING city projects that have broken elevators, and all sorts of maintenance related problems. Furthermore whenever the government builds something, labor unions tend to get involved and labor unions drive up prices.
What I’m getting here is that if austerity measures aren’t on the table, this vacant home tax is only going to make a living in the city of Toronto more expensive. Because if you’re a homeowner, you’d much rather pay the tax than rent out your house to a potential pro-rent control SQUATTER. Squatters are way more expensive than paying taxes.
Also, regarding property taxes, there’s a 2-year window not to pay taxes, and if homeowners are smart and get organized, they could flood the courts fighting the tax, similar to parking or speeding fines; what might happen is that the Toronto government might be forced to settle, and might find itself losing money. There’s still a due process in this country, and last time I checked, humans are very creative.
The thing to remember about government housing is that it doesn’t generate revenue to the city, in fact the opposite happens, which is why most politicians don’t want to build housing.
Anyway, you can read more about this stupidity on the City of Toronto website.
The goal of the Vacant Home Tax (VHT) is to increase the supply of housing by discouraging owners from leaving their residential properties unoccupied. Homeowners who choose to keep their properties vacant will be subject to this tax.
Revenues collected from the Vacant Home Tax will be allocated towards affordable housing initiatives, including the Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition (MURA) program.
| toronto.ca
Interesting times ahead