Town says RR tax rates are competitive in this region

By Ken Johnston
Editor

In recent weeks Roadrunner Motel owner Rob Cooper has written two letters regarding 2007 property taxes in Rainy River.
In his first letter he said that commercial tax rates (municipal and education combined) “are as much as 37.5% higher than some other communities in Ontario.”
In his second letter he said he has collected tax rates from 37 different communities in Ont. and, “Rainy River ranks second highest in the residential and commercial groups.” While his figures showing Rainy River residents paying 1.600289% of their assessed value and Toronto paying .8528434% for residential, Town Councillor and Finance Committee Chairman Brent Anderson said that one needs to look at rates in this area and not compare them to Toronto.
Anderson provided the Record with the following tax rates for residential (municipal and education combined):
Residential Rates
Rainy River: 1.51121%
Emo: 1.54974%
Marathon: 3.00693%
Fort Frances: 1.79155%
Kenora: 1.52078%
Thunder Bay: 1.68653%
Commercial Rates
Rainy River: 4.16723%
Emo: 3.59727%
Marathon: 5.50211%
Fort Frances: 5.61428%
Kenora: 4.19467%
Thunder Bay: 5.34882%
As a percent of total taxes collected Anderson said Rainy River’s residential tax base accounts for 66.1% and its commercial 25.8%. He said Monday, that one of the biggest problems here is that Rainy River has a very small commercial/industrial tax base and that means the residents have to pick up the majority of the tax bill. “We did reduce commercial tax rates last year and we also provided some more relief to businesses on how we charge for water and sewer. The old way was based on how many water units they were assessed. We felt that was unfair and changed the way we charge businesses for it.” That did lower water and sewer bills for a number of businesses in town.
Anderson also noted that it is in his opinion better to compare communities in this area rather than other areas in that, “In the area they have the same business environment.” Anderson also pointed out that Toronto has nearly 30 different tax classes and here we have two main ones (Residential and Commercial). In Toronto residential taxes only account for 37.9% of its total taxes collected and commercial 22.3%. Other categories include things like shopping centres and sports centres.
Another point Anderson wanted to bring to light is the tax rate on a home valued at $65,000 in Rainy River is one thing. “Chances are that a comparable building in Toronto would be assessed much higher and even with a lower residential rate, the taxes would likely be much higher than they are here in Rainy River.” The same would likely apply to commercial buildings (RR values vs. Toronto).
Anderson explained that one of the main difficulties Rainy River has had in bolstering its commercial/industrial tax base has been a stop work order on any new construction. With the town’s sewer system not working well, the two existing sewer lagoons are maxed out. That order has been in place for more than a decade and until all the upgrades are done on the system, council's hands were tied. “Once the work is done (this summer) we will immediately seek to have that order lifted.”
Amongst the other major communities in this region that Anderson did his comparison with, he pointed out that Rainy River is very competitive. However, he and council have been striving to close the gap with neighbouring Emo. “While we did reduce our rate for businesses last year we are still working on getting closer to Emo’s rate,” said Anderson noting that they fully intend to look at commercial rate reductions this year.