Fees waived in vacant home tax ‘fiasco’
City staff scramble to clear confusion over botched rollout
The Chow administration is scrambling to contain the fallout from the disastrous rollout of this year’s vacant home tax, and is vowing to reverse incorrect charges, waive fees and improve future editions of the program.
At a press conference at city hall on Friday, Mayor Olivia Chow’s budget chief acknowledged it had been a “difficult week” for the estimated 100,000 homeowners who mistakenly got notices from the city saying they owed thousands of dollars.
“We know that far more people received the bill than should have,” said Coun. Shelley Carroll (Ward 17, Don Valley North).
She assured residents that the city is moving quickly to fix the problem, and that anyone who was charged in error won’t have to pay.
The municipality is doubling the number of staff to help homeowners cancel bad bills, and will keep the in-person support in place at city hall and civic centres until at least April 12.
Toronto is also expediting letters telling incorrectly charged residents they don’t have to pay, enhancing its 311 response, and updating information about the tax on its website to include multiple languages.
The city said that as of Friday morning, it had received 62,000 complaints.
Despite the chaos caused by the incorrect bills, Carroll said she stood by the tax on homes that are vacant for at least six months a year, which council imposed in 2022 to discourage speculators from keeping properties empty in Toronto’s tight housing market.
At April’s council meeting, Carroll and Chow plan to recommend that the city cancel the $21.24 late fee for not meeting the city’s occupancy declaration deadline.
The pair will also ask staff to report on whether the city could use utility usage data to determine whether a home is occupied, rather than forcing all homeowners to submit the information themselves, and make other improvements.
In the inaugural edition of the program last year, residents were told via a yellow piece of paper in their property tax bill that they needed to declare their occupancy status, through a city website or by mail.
This spring it became apparent that many residents didn’t realize they needed to register again this year. Others declared their homes were occupied before the deadline but told the Star they still received a hefty tax bill.
Councillors said Friday they are being inundated with calls from panicked constituents who got bills in error ranging from $4,000 to more than $15,000.
“It has been upsetting to see the stress and emotional impact on our residents, in particular seniors,” said Willowdale Coun. Lily Cheng (Ward 18 Willowdale) who called for a thorough review of the debacle.
Coun. Brad Bradford (Ward 19 Beaches-East York) called the billing system a “complete fiasco” and pointed his finger at Chow, saying “Torontonians deserve better from local government.”
On Thursday, Chow, who took office last July, apologized on behalf of the city, saying she inherited a flawed system from the John Tory administration but “we’re cleaning up this mess.”
In October, the new mayor led council in voting to triple the rate of the tax in 2024 to three per cent of a home’s assessed value.