Exemption worth $35,000/yr for 10 years
City council recently gave third reading to a bylaw which would see a tax exemption valued at approximately $35,000/yr to the owners of the newly renovated old Free Press building on Commercial Street.
The exemption would apply for a ten year period, meaning the total value of the exemption would be $350,000 over the life of the exemption.
The building looks spectacular and is another improvement to the stock of buildings in our downtown core. It now houses a new eatery and is the home to some 100 high tech employees.
The question of course is whether or not the tax exemption is necessary for the owner who undertook a $2 million renovation of the building. Is the exemption necessary at all to encourage property owners to improve and thereby increase the value of their holding?
The same question can be asked of the hotel tax exemption, which was supposed to provide the needed hotel rooms so we can attract all those huge conventions to Nanaimo we seem to be missing out on these days.
Question:
ReplyDeleteWith all these tax exemptions, who is left to actually pay taxes?
Oh, yes, the middle class - becoming poorer by each council decision!