The Editor,
I should like to counter the message published by another reader who was urging the City of Richmond to follow the City of Vancouver in attempting to implement an empty home tax.
To start with, no municipality should attempt to apply a tax to current property owners who legally bought homes, and are currently paying city taxes based on the amount of time they choose to reside in the home.
I wonder if the writer of the letter would feel that vacation homes in the Okanagan, Sun Peaks or Palm Springs should also be subject to the same tax — I should imagine not.
The region has an affordable housing problem due to poor foresight by all levels of government.
Fixed low interest rates, lack of policy on foreign ownership, no public housing strategy have all contributed.
The City of Vancouver has caused much of their own problems with an appallingly slow and cumbersome building permit process (how many bike share spots will you have?) which has stalled several projects which would increase the housing stock.
Do we want a society where home owners are told how and when they may use their legal property?
I wonder how such use would be monitored.
Do we have to report to city hall before we take an extended vacation?
As long as the use is legal and conforms to the property zoning, property owners should have the right to use it as they see fit.
Restricting foreign ownership is the purview of any country and I believe that Canada needs to consider stricter laws in all areas: real estate, natural resources and ownership of Canadian companies.
Future offshore investment in homes may need to be reviewed. But, penalizing current owners who are paying civic property taxes should not be our response to poor government planning.
Kathy Marcino
Richmond
