A tax on empty homes is meant to get more homes on the market when there aren’t enough
Ottawa’s city council is keeping a tax on empty units, which critics have called a huge bureaucratic burden. Instead, they are trying to simplify the reporting process while they wait for more information.
The Orléans West-Innes Coun. Laura Dudas made a motion to get rid of the tax, which is 1% of the assessed value for homes that are empty for six months or more in a year. The tax made an exception for people’s main homes, but homeowners had to fill out an annual form saying whether or not each of their properties was occupied.
Dudas said that the tax puts the wrong kind of pressure on residents because it threatens them with fines and penalties if they don’t file. She said that early data show that it’s being used too widely.
“The administrative system has failed,” Dudas said. “It doesn’t work.”
People who backed her motion gave examples of people with run-down, unlivable homes who were stuck with thousands of dollars in bills and elderly people who were unfairly hit with taxes and fines. Riley Brockington, a council member for the River Ward, gave another reason why he didn’t like the tax. He called it a “overreach.”
“I don’t like it when the government tells people how to use their homes,” he said.
Axing tax ‘premature
But Stittsville Coun. Glen Gower put forward an opposing motion to keep but change the tax system, which was put in place in 2022 to encourage homeowners to put their empty homes back on the market because there were not enough homes. The money will be used to build affordable housing.
In Gower’s motion, he asked staff to find new ways to make the declaration process easier, like making it possible to declare in person, and to think about reducing how often homeowners have to declare.
That got a lot of support from council members, who said that checking a box isn’t as hard as being homeless.
Coun. Shawn Menard said, “I think it’s clear that there are people in Ottawa without homes and homes without people. It’s time to do the math and put two and two together.”
“My top priority is to try to stop that kind of human suffering as much as I can with the tools we have.”
Staff said that next year they will be able to give councillors more information that will show if the tax is being paid by the right people. Several council members said they’d rather give the tax a try and see if it helps increase the number of homes on the market.
“I think it would be a big mistake to give up on this tax after one year,” said Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster. “The thought that we would give up on this so quickly is very upsetting to me.”
Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr said, “I don’t think we should make decisions based on stories.”
“It’s too early,” said Mississippi Coun. He is Jeff Leiper. “We don’t know what effect this is having on the marketplace.”
By a vote of 15 to 8, Gower’s replacement motion won, so the tax will stay in place.