Let’s Have a Fact-Based Conversation About Property Taxes
I’m not a big fan of property taxes.
I pay something like $4,500 a year on my house and it is harder for me to connect that cost to the services I receive. The City of Moncton in recent years starting publishing a “where your tax dollars go” document that actually helped me make that connection.
But all the talk about how NBers are overtaxed in this area is hard to square with reality. Kris Austin recently said the double tax on property was a main reason why investment is being held back in this province.
As someone who studies – in great detail – what is holding back investment in New Brunswick, I can tell you that this is not a main reason why investment is being held back in this province.
First for the facts. KPMG looks at property taxes for businesses in 150+ global cities and publishes them on a per square foot basis. I have studied this data backwards and forwards and I can tell you that New Brunswick is not the lowest but neither is it anywhere near the highest. This graph gives you some examples.
Further, property taxes are on average 1 per cent of total operating costs for the average business in the KPMG study. Wages, the cost of real estate, even energy costs are much higher for the average business.
Now, what about the claim that the government is charging way too much in property tax? I have heard this from people that move here from Calgary or Toronto expecting their property tax bills to go way down.
As shown below, New Brunswickers in all five income quintiles pay a lower share of their income to property taxes than Canadians as a whole. What people conflate is property tax ‘rates’ versus property taxes ‘paid’.
Rates are higher, assessments are lower and so, in the end, people on average pay a little less – not a lot less – of their income to property taxes.
Remember the average household income in New Brunswick is 19 per cent below the Canadian average so in real dollar terms, the average household pays in New Brunswick pays 29 per cent less.
For those of you keeners out there this is partially a rural/urban issue. The bottom line is that if you own a house Fredericton or Moncton or Bathurst you are likely not paying any more for property taxes than you would pay – on average – anywhere else in Canada.
There is one more data point that should put your mind at ease about your government gouging you with property taxes. If you look at how much revenue government generates from property taxes – all classes – business, household, et cetera, on a per capita basis it is similar to the rest of Canada.
I show Saskatchewan in the chart below because I can’t find my province-by-province comparison but again, N.B. is pretty well average.
Now, of course, you say I have avoided the biggest point – the double taxation on rental properties and on second homes/cottages. That is what is getting people like Kris Austin all in a tizzy.
Governments make policy decisions. They ‘double’ tax rental properties which, in theory, is more of an incentive to encourage people to own homes. In practice, apartment rental rates in New Brunswick are competitive and much lower than larger urban centres because again the impact of property taxes on the overall monthly rental cost is fairly low.
But it is clear that if government wanted to encourage more renting of apartments, houses, et cetera,. getting rid of the double tax would help. I’m just not sure they want that.
As for the cottage owners? I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.
Three bottom lines:
There is no evidence that property taxes in New Brunswick are a major barrier to business investment. They can be annoying to small business owners who – like my point above – don’t see what they are paying for.
Landlords and cottage owners also tend to be donors to political parties and can get the ear of politicians and potential politicians. However, when successive governments have looked at this – even with the pressure from landlords and cottage owners – they have not changed the system because, one assumes, they are loathe to raise other taxes to compensate.
If you cut revenue from property taxes by 30 percent you would have to raise HST by another one percentage point. What government will do that?
Finally, I am certainly not opposed to property tax reform. Unfortunately, much of the issue is related to the imbalance between urban and rural property taxes paid (yes, even adjusted for services provided) and that is politically toxic – particularly for Kris Austin’s base of support.
Property taxes, like all taxes, should be set not just as a source of revenue but based on how they impact the competitiveness of the province to attract industry and to attract and retain people. It’s pretty well known that people accept certain taxes more than others. Sales taxes seem to be the most accepted and property taxes seem to be the least loved.
But when we discuss these issues let’s do so with facts.
David Campbell writes a blog about economic development in Atlantic Canada called It’s The Economy, Stupid. This post was republished with permission. Campbell also operates Jupia Consultants, a consulting company that conducts demographic and economic analysis.
Huddle publishes commentaries from groups and individuals on important business issues facing the Maritimes. These commentaries do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Huddle.