I am sure everyone can name their favorite city owned/managed property, mine is Saint Jamestown, and I wonder if they will pay a licencing fee.
Tax target: Tenants
Landlords vow to pass on proposed city apartment licensing fee
By SUE-ANN LEVY
Brad Butt, president of the Greater Toronto Apartment Association, believes the impending apartment licensing scheme under development at City Hall should be called just what is: Yet another excuse to tax.
In fact, he thinks Mayor David Miller and the councillor behind it -- Howard Moscoe -- should have included the licensing scheme in the consultations underway (and which continue tonight in Etobicoke) to discuss the roster of taxes -- oops, revenue tools -- the current regime plans to bring in under the City of Toronto Act.
"It's taxation through the back door," Butt said yesterday of the scheme, which has been labelled the Multi-residential Apartment Buildings (MRAB) regulatory strategy, no doubt in an effort to obfuscate the Millerites' true intentions. "They don't have the guts to deal with it through the normal property tax system."
Landlord Gloria Salomon, whose company manages six properties in Toronto consisting of 2,000 suites, absolutely believes the strategy is another city "cash grab" and worries older buildings will be penalized just because they're old.
It seems the apartment tax scheme -- oops, MRAB strategy -- has its own set of public consultation sessions, but they've been a well-kept secret. They started yesterday in North York and continue tonight at Toronto City Hall, with sessions planned for Thursday and next Tuesday. A city report, which was due out next month, may not come until September.
Nonetheless, Butt has no doubt a license fee is in the cards to "generate a bunch more money" to hire a "bunch more (municipal licensing and standards) staff" that will zero in on bad buildings.
"It's really about revenue ... it gives them (Moscoe and Co.) a new area they can control," said Butt.
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2 comments:
The NDP's Paul Ferriera wants to raise rents on all tenants no matter how poor with a new tax scheme disguised as licensing!
This new tax would bring in tens of millions of dollars in new money to the government out of the pockets of tenants who are usually tenants because they don't have the income of property owners.
I wonder how many poor tenants will support the NDP over this?
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/251850
MPP wants to license landlords
August 31, 2007
Carol Goar
From the street, it didn't look like a bad building. The windows weren't broken. The balconies weren't corroded. The property wasn't an eyesore.
But inside, the signs of neglect were obvious. There were mould spots on the walls, exposed pipes with loose insulation hanging from the ceiling and drywall that didn't quite cover the water-damaged plaster. The lock on nearly every apartment door was broken. The stairwells smelled.
"I've seen it worse," said Paul Ferreira, MPP for York South-Weston.
The rookie New Democrat, who won his seat in a by-election last February, brings skeptics to this apartment block to convince them that Ontario needs a landlord licensing system.
He is not a welcome visitor at 1775 Weston Rd. He was once forcibly removed from the premises.
But he keeps going back, knocking on doors, asking tenants if their pipes are fixed, their appliances are working and their kids are safe.
Some tenants are afraid to answer. Some reel off lists of complaints.
Some are resigned to the bugs, the break-ins and the general state of disrepair.
On a recent visit, a young mother with a 1-year-old girl in her arms said she had to put the baby's dresser out on the balcony to keep the cockroaches from crawling all over her clothes.
A 74-year-old man who'd lived in the building for 30 years said it was a nice facility in the beginning. Then the owner sold it. Now it's been through a string of absentee owners, including the current landlord, Vincenzo Barrasso of Montreal. "You get the leaks, the water stains all over the place and the mice," he said. "I just grin and bear it. It's kinda late to change addresses."
A teenager who'd lived there with her mother for 13 years said the worst thing was to get up in the morning and have no water.
Ferreira doesn't claim his licensing scheme would solve all of these problems. But it would give tenants protection against negligent landlords.
Under his proposal, the province would set minimum health and safety standards for all multi-unit residential buildings. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing would enforce these standards.
Landlords of buildings with more than 10 living units would be required to obtain licences. Those who violated the terms of their licences would face substantial fines.
As Ferreira envisions it, apartments would post colour-coded certificates in their lobbies – much the way restaurants in Toronto now do – displaying the results of their latest inspection. "This way, a tenant looking for accommodation would be able to make an informed choice."
Last spring, he put forward a private member's bill, calling on the government to establish such a program. It was defeated 23 to 8.
The Liberals said there was no need for provincial involvement. "Municipalities have the power and the authority to set up this kind of licensing system now, if they want to do so," pointed out Housing Minister John Gerretsen.
Ferreira acknowledges that this is true. But having the power to act is of little use without the resources to run the program, he contends.
The Conservatives said licensing landlords would drive up rents and penalize responsible apartment owners.
"It will mean more red tape and higher costs," warned housing critic Ernie Hardeman.
Ferreira tested this argument on his constituents. He asked tenants in dozens of buildings whether they'd be prepared to pay an extra $2 to $5 a month to live in a clean, well-maintained apartment. The vast majority said yes.
If he is re-elected this fall, the 34-year-old New Democrat will redouble his efforts to get landlords licensed.
He's seen too many buildings like 1775 Weston Rd. to believe that municipal bylaws or market forces will solve the problem.
From now until Oct. 10, Ferreira is urging fellow candidates to take a close look at the apartments they visit, then ask themselves how they'd like to call these places home.
One of the problems I see is that there is a lot of affordable and co-operative housing which do not meet the present guidelines and there is no money in city coffers to do the repairs.
Does the city become recognized as a slum landlord.
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