Alberta politicians led to the tax-trough by Hogtown and BC's Lower Mainland
No need for a crystal ball, tarot cards or any of those late-night TV psychics, Alberta taxpayers need only to look to the City of Toronto and the Greater Vancouver area to see what's in store if municipal politicians are given more taxing powers.
A recent report from the four-member Minister's Council on Municipal Sustainability (Edmonton Mayor Mandel, Calgary Mayor Bronconnier, Calgary Alderman Hawkesworth, and Taber Councillor Johnson) recommended giving a myriad of new taxing powers to municipalities. These new municipal taxes include an amusement tax (ticket tax), a tourism tax (another hotel tax), a property transfer tax (when you buy or sell your home, farm or other property), a vehicle registration tax, expanded development levies (tax on a new home or property development), and split mill rates for non-residential property (some businesses paying higher property taxes than others).
In addition, the report recommends creating unelected regional service delivery agencies and also giving them the right to levy their own taxes. The report helpfully suggests an additional fuel tax or vehicle registration tax as an example.
Both of these suggestions (new taxing powers and unelected regional service delivery agencies with taxing powers) are lifted from experiences in Toronto and Greater Vancouver.
In 2005, the Ontario government introduced the Stronger City of Toronto for a Stronger Ontario Act, which should have been named the If You Thought Torontonians Were Overtaxed Already, Just Wait Act. The Act gives the City of Toronto the power to levy a bevy of additional municipal taxes. And levy they will.
In fact, in late March, the City of Toronto released a discussion document highlighting eight new taxes the city was considering. Among them are: a liquor tax, a tobacco tax, an entertainment tax (same as the proposed 'amusement tax' here in Alberta), motor vehicle ownership/driver's license tax, property transfer tax, parking tax (per parking stall tax), road tolls, and a billboard tax (likely based on the size of the billboard).
Toronto also released possible tax rates: up to 10 per cent for liquor, tobacco and entertainment; $80 per vehicle per year; 1.5 per cent on the sale price of property; $250 per year per parking spot; $0.10 per kilometer toll; and $10 per square foot of billboard space.
Greater Vancouver has long had a regional service delivery agency for transit known as TransLink. TransLink is an unelected agency with a board appointed by respective municipalities in the Lower Mainland. These appointees are not only at arms-length from their voters, but since their creation by the BC government, have had their own taxing authority.
TransLink attempted in 2000 to introduce a $75 per vehicle car tax (read: property tax on vehicles). This tax grab by an unelected body was met with vocal opposition from various groups including the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. The provincial government thankfully refused to help TransLink impose and collect this tax.
However, TransLink was successful in implementing a parking tax that brought in $20 million annually (but cost $6 million to administer). Fortunately after two years in existence the parking tax was scrapped and the provincial minister responsible has announced TransLink will be completely reorganized.
Albertans should take heed the lessons learned by taxpayers in both Toronto and Vancouver - if municipalities (or unelected regional agencies) are given the power to levy new taxes, they will!
Perhaps if municipal politicians who are focusing so much of their time and energy on pillaging our pocketbooks instead focused on prioritizing spending and finding cost-savings, this entire discussion would not be necessary.