Preferential taxation
Based on the philosophy espoused on Gerry D, writing a secret on a piece of paper and placing it in a shared salad bowl is a very bad idea. There: learned something from the CBC.
I’m not a secret sharer. Too needy/greedy, according to some. My own take on the situation is that what should come out will come out. Besides, there’s no official “statute of limitations” here in Canada, although we seem to have a statute for almost everything else. That said, what might come back to nibble on the ‘nether region’ shall remain internalized. Don’t ask.
The local debate over a set of wonderful properties overlooking the river continues. The current owners have taken the time to point out that they own the lands, and the choice to sell for top dollar in a closed market remains their God-given right. Personal belief systems aside, I have one small interjection. For the last century or two, those particular owners have paid much lower property taxes that “the rest of us”, and it has been due, totally, to their belief system. It’s called preferential taxation for religious communities.
Let’s use the city’s online tax reference system, to see what that means. One property (which lies across the street from my workplace) received a tax bill based on an evaluation of $37 million. Total, about $46000. If that same property was taxed at the same rate as “me and the kinfolk”, the bill would be more like $361000. (All pennies rounded up or down, according to the phase of the moon.)
So here’s my idea. If the properties of a select group are suddenly marketable at full value, then the rest of us should feel free to request payment of arrears. My gut feeling is that the value might be open to negotiation…
