Highlands Companies has destroyed 12 homesteads since August 2008. The assessed value of these properties totals more than $2.9 million.
According to a July 24, 2009 letter from Deputy Dog Bill Hill to a ratepayer, a one percent tax increase in Melancthon only generates $12,000.00. According to my math the assessed values on the properties that Highland Companies has destroyed equals a tax rate of 207%.
At the October 15 meeting of Council Mayor Fawcett confirmed that any loss in the tax base due to the demolition of these homes on properties owned by Highlands would be born by all the remaining taxpayers. After all, the municipality has to generate a certain amount of revenue. So Highland gains and we have the pain.
It does not seem fair to me, but Council clearly has NO problem with this. Melancthon Council has the authority to instantly stop the demolition by passing a bylaw under Section 33 of the Planning Act and also to designate these homes under the Heritage Act but have chosen not to.
Don't forget, Lowndes owns another 9 homes which he clearly has no wish in which to reside, so we can expect they will be coming down real soon. Jeez, Melancthon can’t hand these burn permits out fast enough.
AND finally, at NDACT's public meeting in June, Minion Mikey Daniher stated publically that Highlands had plans to demolish homes in numbers of LESS than "double digits".
Now I am not a smart person and math clearly is not my forte, but double digits in my simplistic world starts at 10. They are already up to 12, so I guess this would represent just one more lie in the Highlands Grand Plan for Melancthon.
But then again Mikey also stated at the June 2009 NDACT meeting the homes were demolished because they were condemned and uninsurable.
Investigation revealed that the Chief Building Official (CBO) for the County of Dufferin is the only authorized legislative authority to issue an Unsafe Order under the Building Code. AND the CBO advised in an email dated June 22, 2009, “None of the(se) properties you are asking about have been as you say "condemned" by the County of Dufferin Building Department”
Removing 21 houses from Melancthon equals 2% of the total homes. To remove 2% of the total homes in Toronto equals 20,811 homes. Do you think if some corporation took down 21,000 homes in Toronto in the name of all that is good and right someone wouldn’t notice or put a stop to it?
According to a July 24, 2009 letter from Deputy Dog Bill Hill to a ratepayer, a one percent tax increase in Melancthon only generates $12,000.00. According to my math the assessed values on the properties that Highland Companies has destroyed equals a tax rate of 207%.
At the October 15 meeting of Council Mayor Fawcett confirmed that any loss in the tax base due to the demolition of these homes on properties owned by Highlands would be born by all the remaining taxpayers. After all, the municipality has to generate a certain amount of revenue. So Highland gains and we have the pain.
It does not seem fair to me, but Council clearly has NO problem with this. Melancthon Council has the authority to instantly stop the demolition by passing a bylaw under Section 33 of the Planning Act and also to designate these homes under the Heritage Act but have chosen not to.
Don't forget, Lowndes owns another 9 homes which he clearly has no wish in which to reside, so we can expect they will be coming down real soon. Jeez, Melancthon can’t hand these burn permits out fast enough.
AND finally, at NDACT's public meeting in June, Minion Mikey Daniher stated publically that Highlands had plans to demolish homes in numbers of LESS than "double digits".
Now I am not a smart person and math clearly is not my forte, but double digits in my simplistic world starts at 10. They are already up to 12, so I guess this would represent just one more lie in the Highlands Grand Plan for Melancthon.
But then again Mikey also stated at the June 2009 NDACT meeting the homes were demolished because they were condemned and uninsurable.
Investigation revealed that the Chief Building Official (CBO) for the County of Dufferin is the only authorized legislative authority to issue an Unsafe Order under the Building Code. AND the CBO advised in an email dated June 22, 2009, “None of the(se) properties you are asking about have been as you say "condemned" by the County of Dufferin Building Department”
Removing 21 houses from Melancthon equals 2% of the total homes. To remove 2% of the total homes in Toronto equals 20,811 homes. Do you think if some corporation took down 21,000 homes in Toronto in the name of all that is good and right someone wouldn’t notice or put a stop to it?
Hooray to Minebuster for presenting your viewpoint in such an entertaining manner. I'm not fond of the juvenile dalliances into picture doodling and name calling, however you do provide insight and enlightenment in a interesting and clever way.
ReplyDeleteI do have to correct one thing you write about assessments and taxes in this post: (I'm not a tax assessor or collector but here's how I think this works) If the properties are currently assessed in value at $2.9 million, then the total taxes collected, if they were 100% at the residental rate (which they probably are not), would be about $32150 (Melancthon would keep about $12575). They would decline in value on the next assessment by MPAC to something I can only speculate, and would be taxed at the farmland rate. Let's say that they are assessed at $1.5 million as farmland without houses, then the tax paid by Highland would be about $4150 (Melancthon would keep about $1526). Melancthon would be out approximately $11130, which would be made up by the remaining taxpayers (including Highland Companies)if Council does not make cuts in spending, and chooses to increase taxes to maintain the status quo. I don't like the destruction of these homes one bit, but this does not automatically lead to huge tax increases for the rest of us as implied in your posting.