08-29-2016, 03:18 PM
(08-29-2016, 01:09 PM)nms Wrote:Quote:From the article: Larry Masseo is on the board of directors for the Waterloo Region Home Builders’ Association: “I suppose I would look at it as a broader perspective. You could say that you don’t use parks, or I don’t use schools, why should I pay?” he said.“It is half my taxes right there. I think from a broader policy perspective, if the transit cost is spread out over everybody, everyone in the township still has access to use that transit should they need to, whether they are visiting the city, or one of the many who live in the townships, and work in the city, so it will impact them from that perspective.”
According to the article, it isn't new taxes that are being considered but rather boosting the development charge for new construction. It may be the thin edge of the wedge towards an amalgamated transit/transportation fee that is Region wide (along the lines of the same way that everyone in the Region pays for policing or the airport).
With "half my taxes", Masseo is referring to parks and schools (which he doesn't use), not transit.
That said, given that one of the leaders of the local home builders' association doesn't see a major problem with the idea of the incremental development fee to support transit, maybe this would not be such a huge crisis as the Observer paints.