Calgarians Overtaxed
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Re: "When it comes to taxes, city hall isn't so bad. Really!" Paula Arab, Opinion, Feb. 5.
Paula Arab writes that she doesn't fully understand the market value assessment system and that Stuart Dalgleish sold her on its "high accountability and transparency." Her $78 tax reduction, and several more like it, will be paid for from the tax increase on our home in Mount Royal despite the recent drop in Calgary real estate values.
My wife and I are retired and make limited use of the services and facilities that are financed by our taxes, but our tax load continues to increase under MVA. Anyone trying to justify the market value system usually resorts to the rationale that "if your house is worth so much, you can afford it" or "look at how much your house has increased in value."
The tax under MVA is thus shown to be either an income tax or a capital-gains tax based on the unrealized increase in a home's value. We pay about eight times as much tax as we paid 30 years ago, while our load on the system has dropped significantly.
It is not surprising that Dalgleish is an enthusiastic champion of the MVA system he is paid to administer. Those of us paying more every year for the same or fewer services have much less to feel good about.
Gordon Goodfellow, Calgary
Re: "When it comes to taxes, city hall isn't so bad. Really!" Paula Arab, Opinion, Feb. 5.
Paula Arab writes that she doesn't fully understand the market value assessment system and that Stuart Dalgleish sold her on its "high accountability and transparency." Her $78 tax reduction, and several more like it, will be paid for from the tax increase on our home in Mount Royal despite the recent drop in Calgary real estate values.
My wife and I are retired and make limited use of the services and facilities that are financed by our taxes, but our tax load continues to increase under MVA. Anyone trying to justify the market value system usually resorts to the rationale that "if your house is worth so much, you can afford it" or "look at how much your house has increased in value."
The tax under MVA is thus shown to be either an income tax or a capital-gains tax based on the unrealized increase in a home's value. We pay about eight times as much tax as we paid 30 years ago, while our load on the system has dropped significantly.
It is not surprising that Dalgleish is an enthusiastic champion of the MVA system he is paid to administer. Those of us paying more every year for the same or fewer services have much less to feel good about.
Gordon Goodfellow, Calgary
Labels: Taxes
1 Comments:
At 8:36 AM ,
Mike Leibel said...
Market value assessment has very little to do with the tax you are charged by the city. Once their budget is set, and the bureaucrats have decided how much they will take from you, the MIL rate is set. No matter your assessed value, the MIL rate will always be set high enough so that they can have their cake, and eat it too.
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