Fighting for More Fair Taxation for Richmond Hill Residents

Over the last 5 years as Mayor, I have become increasingly concerned with the fiscal sustainability of cities like Richmond Hill. This is a concern that I have heard from other Ontario Big City Mayors (OBCM) across Ontario. It is a common theme in one form or another when we discuss items at OBCM meetings.

In Ontario, cities are primarily funded through property tax. Property tax is one of the most regressive taxes Canadians pay. This tax does not well represent anyone’s ability to pay unlike other taxes, like Income Tax for example that better reflects our actual ability to afford a tax. Increasing pressure on the property tax base from the past downloading of Federal and Provincial responsibilities over the past 100 years plus issues that were never envisioned when this funding model was created decades ago, have had the result lately of significant pressure on our ability to live affordability in Ontario. 

Each year Richmond Hill builds a budget, along with York Region, to provide all the essential services needed for residents to live well in our city. Services like fire protection, road maintenance/snow clearing, parks, recreation centres, libraries, and urban planning, which are increasingly more expensive. I will continue to work tirelessly to deliver them in a fiscally responsible way. BUT the system has inherently unfair, that’s why I’m talking about it.  

Over time the pressures from the downloading of services from other levels of government and their associated costs the property tax base needs to pay for has pushed us to a crisis point. I have spent a substantial amount of my time as Mayor advocating for better and more sustainable funding for Richmond Hill residents.

At the same time, the Provincial government has passed numerous pieces of legislation putting downward pressure on our ability to collect Development Charges so that while cities grow, the growth can no longer pay for itself. I have been very vocal to Premier Ford and other Provincial ministers on the structural unfairness of legislation like Bill 17, the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025. 

On top of this, I have also been supportive of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Social and Economic Prosperity Review which calls on the Provincial government to work collaboratively to build strong, sustainable municipalities for our residents and at the same time improve the quality of life of Ontarians by increasing their ability to live more affordability in our communities.

In that vein, I introduced a motion at the OBCM February meeting (image and link below) to reduce Richmond Hill’s property taxes by 20% immediately by removing the portion of our total tax bill that is allocated to pay for Education. Education has never been under municipal jurisdiction, and adding this portion of the tax collected to a regressive form of taxation like property tax further enhances the unfairness of our municipal tax model.

I need to be very clear – as a parent, and as a past teacher, I am quite aware of how important of a properly funded education system is to a city like Richmond Hill, but the purpose of this motion is to encourage the Ontario government to put Education funding back where it belongs, at the Provincial level.

I see this OBCM motion as a small part of much bigger discussion that is urgently needed with Federal and Provincial governments to restore sustainable, fair, and predictable funding for cities in Ontario and as encouragement to support AMO’s initiative.

As always, I am working hard for residents of Richmond Hill, and I would be happy to hear your input on this. Drop me a line at of*********@**********ll.ca