The Canadian Advocates For Tax Awareness (CAFTA) and its’ subsidiary, the Canadian National Taxpayers Coalition (CNTC) were created in 2004 and 2006, and currently represent the interests of approximately 1,600,000 taxpayers. These organizations are dedicated to the advancement of taxpayers’ rights, including the right to limited taxation, the right to vote on tax increases, and the right of economical, equitable and efficient use of taxpayer dollars.

Our position is based on the fact that Ontario’s property assessment and taxation system is broken and unfair to all taxpayers. Property taxation based on a volatile real estate market (Market Value Assessment) MVA, creates a flawed system resulting in property taxes which are among the highest in the western world.

We believe that this flawed system must be changed to a “cost approach” which reflects and considers other factors like depreciation, land values and other consistent understandable factors.

Strategies within this approach include:

1. Assessments not be allowed to rise more than 2% per year maximum (or the rate of inflation), whichever is lower.
2. Downloaded costs such as those for roads, welfare, land ambulances and provincial court costs etc., should be returned to the province to assume full financial responsibility.
3. Municipal property taxation should only fund municipal services like, fire department, garbage removal, police protection etc.
4. Property owners need to feel that they have some control over how their assessment is established, based on a model which has a sound mathematical approach and is easily understood.

We fundamentally believe in a Canadian solution where all the stake holders in the property taxation controversy need to meet in a conference setting to determine a better, more accurate and fairer method that coincides within the rights and freedoms of Ontario ratepayers.