Doug Ford is pledging to slash the municipal land transfer tax by 15 per cent annually if elected to Toronto’s top political job.
Following a meeting with the Toronto Real Estate Board on Wednesday, the mayoral candidate told reporters that as mayor, he would trim the municipal tax each year until it was completely eliminated.
In unveiling his plan, Ford said the tax is unfair to homebuyers and has a negative impact on the economy and the housing market.
“The land transfer tax hurts all people in this city when they want to sell a home,” he said.
Introduced in 2008, the land transfer tax costs the average homebuyer in Toronto $7,865 upfront. It is levied with a provincial land transfer fee, but first-time homebuyers receive a rebate on the municipal tax for a property costing less than $400,000.
The tax raises a total of $350 million in revenue for the city annually, and slashing the tax by 15 per cent would be the equivalent of $52.5 million in lost revenue per year.
However, Ford said he plans to find the savings to offset that money by contracting out garbage collection east of Yonge St., and consolidating city procurement agencies.
“There are savings to be had, there has to be a will to do that,” said Ford, who is currently a Etobicoke councillor.
“We’ll be getting rid of 60 per cent, and we’ll continue on with the next term, “ Ford said.
Familiar vow
Ford essentially vowed to pick up the fight his brother, Mayor Rob Ford, failed to win during his term of office.
During the 2010 election campaign, Rob Ford pledged to remove the tax altogether. Not even halfway into his term, however, it became apparent that Ford would have a difficult time convincing his council colleagues to support his bid. Near the end of his council term, the mayor failed to receive council support to slash the land transfer tax by even a fraction.
Doug Ford acknowledged the failure, but said it was a “very close vote” at council, and that he believes the plan is “realistic.”
Rival candidates respond
In response, rival candidate John Tory said Wednesday that he supports outsourcing garbage collection east of Yonge, but said the city can’t afford to trim the tax right now.
“I just think that when politicians run around and just willy-nilly say, ‘We’re going to contract out garbage and use it all for one purpose,’ I’m not sure that that’s the careful way to go about these things,” Tory told reporters.
Another mayoral front-runner, Olivia Chow, said she wants to hike the land transfer tax by 1 per cent on homes worth more than $2 million.
“I believe the land transfer tax is here to stay,” Chow said Wednesday. “It’s $350 million (in annual revenue) that the city is counting on to continue providing services to the people of Toronto.”
With a report by CTV Toronto’s Natalie Johnson
