About Us
The Property Taxpayers Alliance (PTA) is an Ontario-wide network of community associations, businesses, and individuals who have joined forces to advocate for dramatic improvements in the affordability, accountability, and value-for-money performance of their local governments.
We advocate for:
- Annual increases in property taxes, surcharges, and service fees that do not on average outpace the growth in property taxpayer incomes (using inflation as a proxy for income growth).
- The setting of real efficiency and effectiveness improvement targets with progress reporting to property taxpayers.
- Disclosure of the kind of information required by property taxpayers to hold their mayors and councillors accountable.
The PTA is nonpartisan. We believe in fact-based problem solving and wish to work with the Minister of Finance, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, MPP’s, MP’s, Councillors and Mayors to achieve more efficient/effective, affordable, and accountable municipal government in Ontario. We believe in respectful and constructive engagement.
We are asking municipal associations across Ontario and individuals with strong voices to start sounding the alarm by joining the growing PTA movement. Help us bring about change. Please subscribe and contribute to our newsletter.
The Current Situation
In most of Ontario, municipal costs to homeowners, business owners, and renters alike have been rising at multiples of inflation year-after-year, while our incomes have been rising at just the inflation rate, or less. This is not sustainable – it’s a recipe for disaster. We all know it. So who is responsible for addressing/fixing this problem? The provincial government of course. So what’s their gameplan? Do they have one?
Inefficient Municipal Monopolies
Municipal affordability has become a major issue across Ontario. Cost over runs are simply dumped on the backs of property taxpayers. Municipalities operate as abject monopolies with total pricing power – our taxes – and little to no accountability or transparency.
Growth MUST pay for Growth
The cost of infrastructure for new housing developments is increasingly being passed on to existing property taxpayers. This is wrong. They have already paid for the infrastructure servicing their homes, and they continue to be taxed for its maintenance. We should not also be taxed to pay for the infrastructure required for new housing developments. If they are, then we are trying to grow our cities faster than we can afford and maintain. Period!
Ballooning Discretionary Services and Municipal Compensation
Budgets are ballooning with unrealistic salary, wage, and benefit increases, excessive hiring, and the addition of new municipal discretionary services that the majority of residents did not ask for.
Our cities are increasingly being run by small, but very loud, special interest groups. Its time the Silent Majority (those that do not vote) start to speak up and VOTE FOR CHANGE!
Join Us – Support the Property Taxpayers Alliance of Ontario.
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Enough is Enough!