Locals are reacting to a motion by Don Valley East City Councillor Jon Burnside that calls for increasing property tax rates for Toronto Island residents.
The motion states that homeownership on the island differs from the rest of the city in that island residents own their homes but lease the land from the city.
“Consequently, residential property taxes are extremely low as they are based solely on the house value, not the land and house value like the rest of Toronto,” the motion states.
In addition, given the isolated nature of island living, the cost of providing municipal services to its community is approximately three times the cost of the rest of the City, according to the motion.
However, homeownership on the island differs from the rest of the city in that island residents own their homes but lease the land from the city.
The average Toronto Island homeowner pays approximately $1,530 per year in property taxes, while the average Flemingdon Park tenant pays $4,320 in property tax annually, the motion states.
Burnside’s call prompted an online response amongst city residents, some of whom agreed with his sentiment.
“Islanders consume significantly more city resources than ‘mainlanders.’ Everything’s more expensive to supply an island, such as maintaining ferries, boats, ports, etc. and the additional burden of supplying water, electricity, waste, etc. over the waterway. They should be paying more property tax, not less,” one Toronto Redditor wrote.
“This seems like a no-brainer. I would assume things like trash collection, snow removal etc., cost quite a bit more. Seems like they should be paying more than the modal property owner, not less,” another Reddit user said.
“If those houses were leased at a fair market value and paid their fair share of taxes then there wouldn’t be a generation-long waiting list. Instead, we’re unfairly subsidizing 262 households,” another person wrote.
According to Destination Toronto, roughly 650 people live on the island, and the land on which they reside is leased until December 2092, as outlined in the Toronto Islands Amendment Act.
However given islanders don’t own the land they live on, the current tax rate means they are not paying their fair share compared to other Torontonians.
“In fact, the provision of their municipal services is heavily subsidized by taxpayers across the rest of Toronto,” Burnside said in the motion.
The motion was introduced to council on Feb. 6 and is set to be referred to the Executive Committee for review.
