Owen Sound Does have the Highest Taxes

Don't Fall for Misleading Statements

Ken Jones asked this question at the 18 Dec council meeting; “… comparable municipalities we have the highest taxes and the lowest incomes. How do you explain that?” The mayor responded: “We do not have the highest taxes!"  He then went on to qualify his statement; “When it comes to the levy per capita we are down in the midrange”.  Mr. Jones asked for an explanation for Owen Sound having the highest taxes and lowest incomes and the mayor immediately took issue with his assertion that Owen Sound has the highest taxes. Is the mayor in denial or did he just not understand Mr. Jones’ question? Either way his response was not helpful and only served to confuse the public.

It’s important to note that when comparing taxes per capita, BMA compares Owen Sound to all Ontario municipalities that subscribe to their services. Many of the municipalities that had a higher tax per capita than Owen Sound had populations greater than 100,000. Regardless, Mr. Jones was right when he said that Owen Sound has the highest taxes when compared to similar municipalities. Owen Sound also has the highest taxes when compared to all municipalities in Grey and Bruce counties.

Residential Single Detached  Source:  2023 BMA Report	Residential two-Story  Source:  2023 BMA Report

The reality is that when you compare Owen Sound to very similar municipalities as I did in my study Owen Sound does have the highest taxes. When you compare Owen Sound to all municipalities in Bruce and Grey Counties, Owen Sound does have the highest taxes as shown in the BMA tables below. As well Owen Sound has the highest tax rates when you compare Owen Sound to all municipalities in Bruce/Grey.

As shown in the above tables for Bruce/Grey municipalities Owen Sound not only has the highest taxes, but Owen Sound Taxes are significantly higher than the average in the counties. They are $1,275 or 42.6% higher than the average for Single Detached Residential and $1,678 or 36.3% higher than the average for Two Story Residential.

Multi-Residential Walkup  Source:  2023 BMA Report	Tax Levy per $100,000 Assessment    Source:  2023 BMA Report

As shown above Owen Sound also has the highest taxes for multi-residential properties. Owen Sound is $790 or 86.4% above the average. Owen Sound is also 35% higher than Hanover the closest municipality.

The table on the right above shows how Owen Sound compares when it comes to net levy per $100,000 assessment. Once again Owen Sound has the highest taxes which are 40.8% higher than the average.

The table above shows the tax rates for Grey/Bruce municipalities. As you can see Owen Sound has the highest tax rates in all categories. This table speaks volumes as to why Owen Sound has the highest taxes in the Counties of Grey and Bruce. It also explains why Owen Sound has not grown it commercial and Industrial sectors. If you were considering relocating your business to this area would you locate in it Owen Sound or in Georgian Bluffs where the tax rate is 21.1% lower? Similarly if you were relocating to this area would you buy a house in Owen Sound or in Georgian Bluffs when the tax rate is 58.7% lower?

This year Council is likely to ignore the facts and approve a 2024 budget with an increase of 3.4%. This is about 2.4% higher than last year’s tax increase. Georgian Bluffs is considering a 4.82% tax increase for 2024. Based on the impact this has to taxpayers, this is equivalent to a 2.1% tax increase to Owen Sound taxes. As illustrated by the above graph, if Owen Sound Council approves a 3.4% tax increase and Georgian Bluffs approves a 4.82% increase, it will take 67 years to achieve tax parity with Georgian Bluffs. To correct our current high tax situation Council should impose a tax reduction of 2% in 2024. If they do and keep this reduction in the following years we will achieve tax parity with Georgian Bluffs in only 12 years. Tell Council to Send the 2024 Budget back for Serious Reductions.