So you’ve probably read or heard about COPE mayoral candidate Meena Wong’s proposal to tax owners of vacant properties.
It’s getting some attention.
Even made the national news.
I’ll get to some details in a few sentences.
First, I wanted to remind loyal readers of a certain mayoral candidate back in 2008 who floated the same idea. The candidate called it a speculators’ tax. Never got anywhere.
But the candidate who floated it did: He’s now your mayor.
Yep, Gregor Robertson was talking speculator’s tax back when he successfully took on NPA challenger Peter Ladner in the 2008 race. But before Robertson became the mayoral candidate, he had to beat colleague Raymond Louie in Vision’s mayoral nomination battle.
The two made up, of course, and Robertson appointed Louie his policy adviser.
Back then, Robertson and Louie agreed the city had to become more affordable for people, or more young families and seniors would continue to move to the suburbs. Protecting and creating rental housing was to be central to Vision's 2008 campaign, they said.
The pair also said at the time they would spend time hashing out Robertson's idea for a speculator's tax, which would see people who bought condos for an investment dinged with a higher tax. Such a tax could force speculators to open up their condos for rental housing, the mayor said at the time.
So why did Robertson back off on the idea?
In 2008, the Courier hosted a debate between Robertson and Ladner at Science World. I asked Robertson whether he was serious about implementing a speculators’ tax.
Courier colleague Cheryl Rossi covered the debate and this is what she wrote:
“Robertson said the tax was merely a suggestion, not a policy he necessarily plans to apply, but that he wants to explore ways of ensuring more affordable rental housing exists. Ladner blasted the idea of a speculators' tax, saying it would chase away investors who pay for new housing, which Ladner argued increases the stock for everyone.”
So Vision doesn’t want a tax on absentee homeowners.
The NPA?
The party’s mayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe wrote on his blog that “we would convene a quick, independent study after the election that would assess the extent of the issue and, if necessary, suggest enforceable options. There might be a practical solution to this, but we have to get the facts first. We should not create policy based on anecdotes. And any remedy must not be easily circumvented.”
Green Party Coun. Adriane Carr offered a similar comment at a press conference, saying “we think it’s important to get that data straight” and then develop a plan to address it.
“And that may well include putting on some sort of levy or fee for those who have homes or condos that are not fully occupied,” Carr said.
Wong proposes creating a “landowner and landlord registry” to take a full inventory of the city’s housing stock. The registry will track vacancy rates and require property owners to report usage. The city will also use surveys, inspections and other methods.
Interesting.
But here are some questions:
· How will it realistically be enforced?
· What is a fair fee to tax an absentee homeowner?
· Will property owners voluntarily offer something up like, “Oh by the way City of Vancouver, I’ll be out of town for four months and enjoying a vacation down south and just wanted you to know my private condo will be vacant.”
Maybe that’s why Vision Vancouver never adopted the idea as policy.
I’ll ask the mayor the next time I see him.
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