Search Results for: Property Tax
Perspectives Paper | 2019
Property Taxes in Canada: Current Issues and Future Prospects
Harry Kitchen, Enid Slack, and Tomas Hachard
This paper examines the current state of property tax policy across Canada and finds that municipalities and provinces are facing a number of shared challenges and questions, including: whether to apply progressive property tax rates, the volatility of property taxes, the benefits and drawbacks of using property tax incentives to attract businesses, and the role of provincial property taxes
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Perspectives Paper | 2019
The Right Tax for the Job: The Role of Property Taxes in Funding Cities
Bev Dahlby and Melville McMillan
The property tax generates a significant proportion of municipal revenues in Canada and has done so since Confederation. This paper makes the case that the property tax is a good tax for funding local (especially general-purpose) governments for several reasons: the base of the tax is immovable; the tax can generate reliable and sufficient revenues and make local governments independent from other orders of government; many of the core goods and services provided by local governments directly benefit property owners; the tax is visible to property owners; and the tax is easy to administer.
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Book | 2019
Funding the Canadian City
Heather Evans, Lisa Philipps, Enid Slack and Lindsay Tedds
This collection of papers by leading experts, emerging scholars, and policy makers in the field of municipal taxation and finance sets out the financial challenges facing municipalities in Canada today and examines various practical means of navigating these challenges.
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IMFG Paper | 2019
Does Local Government Autonomy Promote Fiscal Sustainability? Lessons from Illinois
Matthew Walshe
Whether institutional constraints are desirable is a debate that may alternatively be framed as one over the merits of local government autonomy. This paper contributes to this debate by empirically analysing the effects of local government autonomy on several outcomes, including the size of government, the ownsource revenue mix, and fiscal sustainability.
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Perspectives Paper | 2018
Bold Election Ideas for the Toronto Region
Elections are a time to assess what has happened in our community since the last election and ask questions – often uncomfortable questions – about the places we live and the environment we are creating for those who live here. In the lead-up to the 2018 Ontario municipal election, the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance has commissioned a series of short pre-election papers to add to the dialogue and tap into the ideas of some of the GTHA’s most respected leaders. As you read these short papers, you will see that we have covered a wide range of themes – transportation, housing, homelessness, youth, neighbourhoods, Indigenous peoples, mental health, decent work, policing, universities, arts and culture, and regional and local governance.
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Presentation | 2017
The Public Acceptability of Taxation: Implications for Canadian Cities
Matthew Lesch
Aversion to taxes presents a major policy dilemma for elected governments: voters want governments to deliver goods and services but are deeply suspicious of their efforts to raise taxes.
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IMFG Paper | 2017
Paying for Water in Ontario's Cities: Past, Present, and Future
Harry Kitchen
Throughout much of the 20th century, water was seen as plentiful and water rates did not promote conservation. Today, water is treated as a relatively scarce resource and governments are concerned about financing new and rehabilitated infrastructure. However, most municipalities still do not set prices for water at levels that would encourage conservation, thereby allowing the overconsumption of water, and leading to increased demand for expensive infrastructure.
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Presentation | 2017
Non-Tax Revenues in Municipal Government in Canada
Enid Slack
As the size and scope of responsibilities for cities expands, do local governments have the appropriate financial and governance arrangements to effectively and efficiently deliver services to residents?
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Search Research Archive
CBC Ottawa Morning: Enid Slack on Fixing Municipal Fiscal Health
November 15, 2024
Timmins Daily Press: Enid Slack on the Importance of Public Consultations
November 8, 2024
Canadian Property Management: Almos Tassonyi on a Federal Surtax on Vacant Residential Land
October 22, 2024