Benjamin Dachis – What Municipal Financial Audits are Likely to Find
To: Ontario Municipalities From: Benjamin Dachis Date: August 23, 2023 Re: What Municipal Financial Audits are Likely to Find In late July, the Ontario government announced details on a financial audit of select municipalities to assess the impact of provincial changes to development-related fees. The audit will likely find that the change had some financial […] Andrew Kaufman – Pooling Piggybanks: Ontario Municipalities Can Better Deploy Their Spare Change
To: Ontario Municipalities From: Andrew Kaufman Date: August 11, 2023 Re: Pooling Piggybanks: Ontario Municipalities Can Better Deploy Their Spare Change There is a long – 103-year – history of investment managers supporting the supervision and investment of public funds in Ontario to provide increased revenue for public coffers while reducing the costs associated with the duplication of […]Benjamin Dachis – Stuck in a Hole, and the Land Transfer Tax Isn’t Your Way Out
To: Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow Date: July 21, 2023 From: Benjamin Dachis Re: Stuck in a Hole, and the Land Transfer Tax isn’t Your Way Out Congratulations on your victory last month. As you take charge in your first full week, there’s much conversation about the city’s large financial problem. The most recent operating budget […]Benjamin Dachis – Three Measures to Reduce House Prices in Toronto and Across Canada
From: Benjamin Dachis To: Toronto Mayoral Candidates CC: Canadian Municipalities and Provinces Date: June 23, 2023 Re: Three measures to reduce house prices in Toronto and Across Canada Despite recent softening, the cost of housing in Canada has increased dramatically in recent years. In some cities, barriers to getting new homes built are a major reason and drive a […]3 ways to help reduce house prices — construction targets, lower fees and zoning reform – Financial Post Op-Ed
The cost of housing in Canada has increased dramatically in recent years. In some cities, barriers to getting new homes built are a major reason why.
Barriers to constructing new single-detached homes drive a wedge between what it costs to build and the market price. On average between 2011 and 2021, a single-detached home in the Vancouver area cost homebuyers $2 million. But the construction cost of a new home was only about $700,000. The $1.3-million difference reflected high costs for the right to build on the limited land governments allowed housing to be built on. Homes in the Toronto area now cost homebuyers $350,000 more than they cost to build. In the Montreal area, however, the difference between cost…
Who Should Pay for Growth?
Benjamin Dachis – Budget 2023 Interswitching Changes will Derail Supply Chains
To: The Hon. Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport From: Benjamin Dachis Date: May 15, 2023 Re: Budget 2023 Interswitching Changes will Derail Supply Chains Ottawa’s 2023 Budget re-introduced a controversial railway policy abandoned in 2017. For the next 18 months, railway customers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba will have access to extended interswitching. This change […]Benjamin Dachis – The Canada Infrastructure Bank Legislative Review
From: Benjamin Dachis To: The Hon. Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities Date: March 31, 2023 Re: The Canada Infrastructure Bank Legislative Review In 2018, the federal government launched the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB). After some initial set up steps, and criticism on rollout, the CIB is now providing significant investment financing […]Canadians Deserve Access to More Transparent City Budgets – Op-Ed from The Globe and Mail
City budgets are a mystery to most Canadians. The municipal services they fund are central to our quality of life, and they affect our property taxes and charges for services such as water access and garbage collection. Yet few of us delve into these seminal documents that lay out plans for revenue and expenses for the coming year – and if we do, we likely come away bewildered. Canadians need and deserve more transparent city budgets.
If you have not yet peered into the murk of municipal budgets yourself, we encourage you to visit your own city’s website and search for its most recent budget. We are now well into March, so your municipality’s 2023 budget should be online. If it is not – the lateness of many city budgets is a…
Glen Hodgson – Watch Your Wallets When New Rinks Are in the Air
From: Glen Hodgson To: Calgary and Ottawa Taxpayers Date: February 13, 2023 Re: Watch Your Wallets When New Rinks Are in the Air Interest is ramping up again in Calgary and Ottawa about new NHL arenas for each city’s downtown, after earlier projects failed to launch. Modern downtown arenas have obvious attractions for owners and fans in both […]New NHL arenas in Calgary and Ottawa better not cross-check taxpayers – Financial Post Op-Ed
Interest is ramping up again in Calgary and Ottawa about new NHL arenas for each city’s downtown, after earlier projects failed to launch. Modern downtown arenas would have obvious attractions for owners and fans in both cities. If the projects proceed, however, it’s a lock that taxpayers will be asked to provide financial support. Should they? And, if they do, on what conditions?
The main purpose of any new building is to help the private owners of the franchise make more money by selling more tickets, luxury boxes, refreshments and advertising, including naming rights. In an ideal world, buildings would be completely privately financed and operate profitably thanks to strong demand, with frequent use…