Orangeville residents among the highest taxed in Ontario: report

yorkregion.com
July 18, 2017
By Chris Halliday

Council has long advocated for maintaining Orangeville’s small-town feel, but its residents are paying big-city taxes.

According to its 2016 Municipal Study, BMA Management Consulting Inc. reports Orangeville’s residential households are paying more in property taxes than most of the 105 other Ontario municipalities participating in its survey.

During the last few years, many residents in Orangeville have argued the town’s residential households are among the highest taxed in Ontario.

The statistics from BMA’s report appear to back those assertions up, as the town ranked no higher than 93rd in five categories including detached bungalows, two-storey homes, executive homes, walk-in apartments and high-rise apartments.

According to BMA’s figures, the average detached bungalow in Orangeville pays $4,175 in property taxes per year, which is $962 more than the $3,123 average of all municipalities participating in the study.

Of the 105 municipalities examined, the average detached bungalow in Orangeville ranked as the 99th highest, ahead of only Mississauga ($4,277), Vaughan ($4,490), Pickering ($4,737), King ($4,892), Toronto South ($4,903) and Markham ($5,305).

Within its population group (15,000 to 29,999), Orangeville’s average of $4,175 in taxes per detached bungalow is $1,138 above the study’s average of $3,037.

When it related to two-storey homes, BMA’s statistics show the average property in Orangeville, which pays about $5,725 in taxes, ranked two spots better at 97th.

The only average two-storey property to rank below Orangeville included Leamington ($5,276), Stratford ($5,324), Windsor ($5,340), Pickering ($5,380), Port Colbourne ($5,495), Thunder Bay ($5,725), Timmins ($6,259) and Toronto South ($6,967).

In the senior executive home category, the average property in Orangeville paid $6,606 in taxes. That placed the town 93rd among the 105 participating municipalities, ahead of Whitchurch-Stoufville ($6,685), Markham ($6,708), Waterloo ($6,716), Pickering ($6.796), Owen Sound ($6,812), Toronto West ($7,272), Toronto North ($7,438), Thunder Bay ($7,748), King ($7,750), Ottawa ($7,937), Timmins ($9,424) and Toronto South ($12,621).

Although Orangeville fared better in that senior executive home class, it finished last among participating municipalities surveyed for both walk-in apartments and high-rise apartments.

The report shows that the average walk-in apartment in Orangeville paid $2,698 in property taxes, with the next closest being Ingersoll ($2,403), Belleville ($2,240) and St. Catharines ($2,129). The average amount of property taxes paid by walk-in apartments among the 91 municipalities included in the category was $1,145.

Of 62 municipalities surveyed within high-rise apartment category, Orangeville also ranked last with the average property in town paying $3,151. The average amount of taxes a high-rise property across all municipalities studied paid $1,770 in taxes.

The next closest municipality to Orangeville was Belleville ($2,531). In its population class (15,000 to 30,000 pop.), the average high rise apartment in town paid $762 more than its closest municipal comparator in Port Colbourne ($2,389).

Using statistics from 2015, BMA completed the comparable study on behalf of 105 of Ontario’s 444 municipalities. Orangeville was the lone municipality in Dufferin County to participate in the study.

Referring to the report's net municipal tax levy per capita rankings, which ranged from $949 to $4,438 across the study’s 105 participating municipalities, Mayor Jeremy Williams said the town ranked near the average of $1,499.

“Despite being up against areas that have a lot more industry to carry the burden, we are close to that average,” Williams told The Banner.

“Taxes are a balance between how much people feel OK paying and the level of services they want,” the mayor added. “Finding the balance between those two is always a challenge.”