By Joyce Cassin:
As
property taxes continue to rise, there has been much debate among municipal
councils and in the provincial legislature on how to help keep seniors and
disabled persons with low incomes in their homes.
Thornhill MPP Peter Shurman presented
Ontario's
legislature with Bill 78, which the Progressive Conservative said would have
provided real relief for low-income seniors and disabled persons struggling with
skyrocketing property tax and assessment rates.
"This bill will allow low-income
seniors and disabled persons to remain independent in their homes longer," Mr.
Shurman told the legislature last Thursday. "It will stimulate the economy by
providing additional disposable income to low-income seniors and disabled
persons, and it will provide a common property tax deferral program across
Ontario and
get rid of the current patchwork system."
Northumberland-Quinte West MPP Lou
Rinaldi joined his Liberal counterparts in voting against the bill.
Mr. Rinaldi argued that by allowing
low-income seniors and disabled persons to defer their property taxes,
municipalities would once again be shouldering the burden.
"It would be another form of
downloading," he said. "And Peter's resolution did not state the costs to the
municipalities."
He
said low-income seniors and disabled persons can already apply to their
individual municipalities for a deferral, and he said, the local level knows
best.
"This would only tie the hands of
the municipalities if it went through," Mr. Rinaldi said. "As it is, the
municipalities already have the power to make those decisions, and they know the
local situation."
As
part of the provincial budget this year, Mr. Rinaldi said the Liberals already
included assistance to this same group of people.
A
total household income of $25,000 would receive a tax credit of $750, with
varying degrees of credits allowable for incomes up to $40,000, he said.
"It's an outright grant, not a loan
(or deferral)," Mr. Rinaldi said.
He
said Mr. Shurman voted against the $750 tax credit during the budget process.