Who doesn’t love a good Friday rant, right?

Well, about thirty percent of readers, it would seem.

Last Friday’s blog post was about this progressive idea hatched in The Netherlands that would see rents tied to income, and I went off on a few wicked tangents, as I always do.

The readers responded in kind.  I saw some love and some hate, and the latter don’t mind calling me by name, which is totally fair.

FYI – I don’t live in Rosedale.  I don’t know where that came from.

But I do eat puppies.  That one’s true.

For the record, I enjoy when people call me out.  Not only does it hold me accountable and provide some opposing views for the other readers to consider, but once in a while, it makes me think.  For the most part, I would still disagree with thoughts to the contrary, but every so often, somebody voices an opinion that disagrees with mine, and I think, “Huh.  That’s true…”

The comments section on last Friday’s blog delved into topics which I, myself, didn’t wade into in the blog post itself.  But I feel as though some readers belive they know me well enough to fill in the blanks for me.  Fair or not, it spurs conversation.

Today’s blog isn’t a follow-up per se, nor is it meant to piggyback on the emotions expressed last week, but rather it’s an extremely necessary post, given the news that came out last week.

What news?

Oh, geez.

The “inevitable” news.

The news that we all saw coming.

The news that we fully expected, months and months ago, as our esteemed city council patted themselves on the back for passing confusing, costly, and ill-fated legislation that had more to do with virtue signaling than it did with actual housing affordability.

What news is that?

The vacant home tax is a complete flop.

From the Toronto Star:

“Just 2,100 Properties Reported Empty Through Toronto’s New Vacant Home Tax”

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

As I wrote in the year-end blog in 2022, the one-time start-up cost for this tax was $11 Million and annual operating costs were estimated at $3.1 Million.

Estimated.

So once we triple the size of staff, give everybody a Montblanc pen for their ivory-inlaid desks, and provide them with an allowance for Red Bull as they work from home, I wonder how much the operating costs will actually be?

This tax has proved to be a fantastic failure, in a long line of fantastic financial failures from all three levels of government.

But who among us expected any different?

This idea that a vacant house tax would “ease home prices” is pandering to the moronic.

But people ate this up and then asked for seconds.

The perpetually frustrated are salivating at the idea of “making housing more affordable,” no matter how unrealistic the ideas have become.

According to THIS article, Toronto’s new vacant home tax was supposed to raise between $55 Million – $66 Million.

And according to THIS article, Vancouver’s vacant home tax has brought in only $32 Million since the implementation of the tax in 2017!

So how in the world were we going to see $66 Million?

It’s such a joke.

And yet, people are still hitching their wagon to it!

Mayoral hopeful, Olivia Chow, has stated that her affordable housing plan counts on upwards of $66 Million in vacant home tax “revenue.”

Uh-oh.  So when she wins, which she will, what’s she going to do?

Create another tax, surely.  Not cut spending.  The idea is preposterous.

This tax was never going to work.  The citizens revolted early and often.

As an example:

“Toronto Extends Vacant Home Tax Deadline, Over 10% Of Property Owners Are Non-Compliant”

Of course.

Back when my write-in candidate in the 2023 municipal election, John Tory, was in charge the city had no choice but to extend a deadline, which in itself is oxymoronic, to ensure enough property owners actually filled in their forms so the city didn’t look silly.

And to add insult to injury, as the Toronto Star article details what we (at least me…) knew was coming:

The city may end up challenging some owners it believes have not reported empty units, he said.

Of course they will.

Because this is about revenue-generation.  This is about being right.

Here’s a disgusting story for you; one which I heard yesterday and which was part of the reason for this blog.

A colleague of mine has a client who tragically lost his son last October.

The young man was young.  He was barely a man.  He died way too early and caused his parents to experience the one thing my own father tells me that a parent should never live to see: the death of a child.

The parents painfully went through the process; notifying friends and family, holding a funeral, applying for a death certificate, cleaning out their son’s condo, sorting through his will and the legalities and complications that stem from death, etc.

Twice, they sent the death certificate to the City of Toronto.

Twice, the City of Toronto lost it.

Last week, they send the parents a bill for over $10,000 because they deemed the property to be “vacant.”

I know, I know.  This is a one-off.  This is a hearsay, broken telephone story that some of you may choose to disregard.

But it happened.  It’s real.  And while it’s but one example of the incompetency and bureaucracy that exists at the municipal level, it underscores what this tax is really about.

It’s about money.

It’s about revenue generation.

This isn’t elected officials representing the population; serving interests, protecting rights, and advancing quality of life.

It’s about money.

And when it’s not about money, it’s about grandstanding.  It’s about showing people, “Hey, we’re here.  We’re working for you!  We’re going to make houses more affordable!  Look at the tax we just created!  That’s for you!”

We’re going to see countless examples of people getting screwed, or trying to be screwed, by this tax and those that hold the fountain pen at City Hall.

Here’s another one from CTV News:

“Toronto Man Who Didn’t Fill Out Vacancy Tax Form Told To Pay $17,000”

I don’t expect the naysayers to have any sympathy for the sickest, most evil, most hated members of our society today, ie. builders, but here’s a major problem on the precipice:

“Builders Seek Extension On Toronto’s New Vacant Home Tax”

Gosh, we have such a funny relationship with builders in this city.

People hate them.

They’re awful.

They only operate to (gulp!) make money, and they’re not helping the “problem” of housing affordability.

But the solution to our housing crisis (when it’s not taxation), is to build.

So who is going to build?

Um, builders?

Not the City of Toronto.  Not the Province of Ontario.

Builders.

But people hate builders.

And right now, the city of Toronto is arguing with builders about their “vacant units,” suggesting that builders should pay the tax on unsold inventory.  And who is going to provide the timeline in which the builders need to sell?

The City of Toronto, of course!

But these costs will simply be passed along to the consumers in the end, as they always are.

Just as some 25-35% of the overall cost of construction of a new unit of housing comes in the form of taxes from all three levels of government, and that is baked into the price of new construction, any additional fees, taxes, charges, or levies will be passed along as well.

The City of Toronto continues to take from Peter to pay Paul.

It’s never-ending.

But so long as the headlines in the newspapers (those that the masses read, ie. online clickbait run by 20-somethings, and not actual journalism like the National Post, Globe & Mail, et al), continue to hail the government for acting, then the population remains satisfied.

And don’t even get me started about the federal “Underused Housing Tax.”

Let me put on my tin-foil hat for this one, but I think this is just an opportunity for the federal government to collect information on the owners of Canadian corporations that they would not otherwise possess.

Bob Aaron wrote a great piece in the Toronto Star:

“Toronto Has Another Vacant Unit Tax And It’s Complicated Scary”

As Mr. Aaron notes:

To me, the scariest part of this tax is the penalty for failing to file the required nine-page tax return when it is due … even if the owners are exempt from paying tax.

Being exempt from paying a tax is not reason enough to not declare.

In this case, nine pages of declarations must be provided even by those who are completely, utterly exempt.

This all reeks of government that has no clue what they’re doing.

All three levels, by the way.  I’m not cherry-picking, although I do think some are more inept than others.

And it’s just never-ending.

Take this article, for example:

“Toronto’s Affordable Housing Plan Could Stall If Ontario Doesn’t Fill Gap Created By Bill 23”

Great headline, right?

But put on your thinking-cap, just for a moment.

The provincial government is trying to make housing development more attractive by eliminating some development charges for builders.

The muncipal govenrment wants to build affordable housing.

Those should, in theory, be mutually exclusive, right?

Only the City of Toronto has linked the two!

The City of Toronto is claiming that because of the shortfall in revenue, caused by Bill 23 which has removed $120 Million in revenue from the city’s bank account, that the city can no longer hit their goal of building affordable housing.

It’s incredible.

Incredible bullshit, but incredible nonetheless.

There are hundreds if not thousands of revenue streams flowing into city coffers.  All of those, collectively, make up the total amount of revenue that the city possesses, and the total amount of money that the city can spend.

But the city’s spin machine has chosen to link the shortfall in revenue from development charges to the revenues expended on affordable housing.

Of course, right?

What else could it be?

It’s not lost revenue elsewhere, nor is it expenditures in other places that’s reduced the city’s financial means.

It’s only because of the elimination of development charges.

Man oh man, is anybody else tired of all this?

Does anybody else feel like the students have taken over the school?

Happy Friday, folks.

Have a drink tonight, because you deserve it!