General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[tomh009]

In any event, look at cities like Oakville, Richmond Hill...clean, prestine, with amazing community centre's, public spaces, more trails. I've experienced it. And their property taxes are much lower than ours as  % of house values. 

Percentage of assessed value is not really a fair comparison point across two very different municipalities. The two cities both need operations funding, and the primary source of that is property taxes. The rates are set so as to generate enough tax revenue for the municipality's needs. If the municipality benefits/suffers (your choice) from very high property values, the tax rates can be lower (as a percentage of assessed value) and the municipality can still have a sufficient tax base. As a result, poorer municipalities, with low property prices, will often have higher tax rates--although the amount of tax paid per taxpayer might still be less.