Vaughan seniors feeling pinch of rising home costs, budget committee hears
Average homeowner now facing $40 property tax hike

YorkRegion.com
Nov. 29, 2016
Adam Martin-Robbins  

Between rising property value assessments, soaring water rates and escalating hydro costs, many senior citizens are worried they’ll no longer be able to afford to live in Vaughan.

That’s what councillors heard from a handful of residents during budget talks Monday night.

“The reality is, with the policies that you are pursuing you are driving seniors out of their homes,” said Gerry O'Connor, who came primarily to express concerns about the “outrageous” 33 per cent increase in his hydro and water bills this year.

“I submit to you, if you keep going the direction that you’re going, you’re going to have a revolt on your hands.”

Serafina Tripodi pointed out many seniors are concerned, given this year’s reassessments, that if property values rise dramatically, they won’t be able to afford their taxes.

“The values of our homes have gone up quite a bit, in the city of Vaughan especially. So they’re saying is there going to be 40 per cent increase? A 50 per cent increase?” said Tripodi, chairperson of Seniors Focus. “I know most of us are worried, even myself. … But we’re having seniors that are like 80, 90 and they’ve had these homes forever and now they don’t know what’s going to happen to them in the next year.”

City finance staff explained this year’s property reassessment will only result in significant tax increases for those who see their homes’ value rise more than the average increase in Vaughan, which isn't likely to be the case for many homeowners.

Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua told Tripodi that while some seniors may be struggling to pay their bills, they also own homes worth substantially more than what they paid for them.

 “(They’re) saying we had a home that we bought for $350,000 and now it’s worth $700,000 and I have a problem,” he said. “If you were to tell a young person today, that A: they could buy a home (and) B: that it will grow over 100 per cent (in value), they’d be extremely happy with that prospect. I know it’s a home that they’ve (seniors) worked really hard to earn. … But the reality is this, that when you have a home that is worth more, in a wealth equation, at the end of the day, you are richer.”    

Tripodi responded: “They’re saying we have $1 million house …  but for us to afford to live in it, we can’t sell it brick by brick, we’ve gotta sell the whole house, and then where are we going?”  

Vaughan homeowners are now facing a 2.9 per cent property tax hike for 2017, which works out to about $40 for the average homeowner.

That’s been chipped down from the original projection of 3 per cent, or $43, as a result of a change in how much the city expects to reap from property assessment growth next year, now estimated to be 1 per cent, up from the .9 per cent projection in earlier budget calculations.

Councillors are slated to approve the 2017 budget at a special council meeting Tuesday, Dec. 13.