An Ottawa city councillor is looking to axe the city's new vacant unit tax this week, suggesting the administration of the new levy is 'an unparalleled annual bureaucratic burden' on households.
The previous Council approved the new vacant unit tax in March 2022, a move designed to address homes sitting empty and neglected. Under the program, property owners are required to submit an annual declaration indicting their home's occupancy status, even if it's their principal residence. Any property that's been empty for more than 184 days during the previous year will be taxed an extra one per cent, with that funding supporting affordable housing.
In her motion for Council, Dudas notes the 1.8 per cent vacancy rate reported by staff is "over triple staff's original projections", and higher than both Toronto and Vancouver. "Either Ottawa is Canada's most vacant city by orders of magnitude, or more realistically, the VUT is being improperly applied to Ottawa residents," Dudas said in her motion, noting the city anticipated a vacancy rate of 0.5 per cent.
In the first year of the vacant unit tax in Toronto, 2,100 units out of 336,865 units were declared vacant, while 2,193 of 186,000 units in Vancouver were vacant, according to the motion."The VUT is the only tax or service administered by the city of Ottawa that subjects a yearly, reverse-onus requirement on all residential property owners," Dudas said in her motion.Only 69 of 16,758 units in Orleans West-Innes, represented by Dudas, were declared vacant by homeowners this year.
Rideau Vanier and Somerset had the highest vacancy rates in Ottawa at 2.3 per cent. There were 355 vacant units in Rideau-Vanier and 313 in Somerset.
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Shooting death in city's rural southeast end being investigated by Ottawa policePolice called to Farmers Way at 3 a.m., victim succumbed to injuries
Read more »
Cool, cloudy start to the weekend in OttawaIt feels like fall to start the weekend, but summer like temperatures will return on Sunday.
Read more »
Fire damages townhomes in Ottawa's Greenboro neighbourhoodEmergency crews responded to a call for a fire on Somero Private, in the Greenboro East neighbourhood, Saturday morning.
Read more »
Hershey Canada returns to Smiths Falls and the O-Train resumes full service: Top 5 Ottawa stories this weekCTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the top five stories in Ottawa this week.
Read more »
Ottawa Redblacks host Montreal Alouettes looking for better results against East rivalsThe Ottawa Redblacks are looking to turn things around in the second half of the CFL season, and that starts with a solid outing against the Montreal Alouettes Saturday night.
Read more »