Re: “Victoria taxes: Homeowners up 4% vs. 1.1% for businesses,” May 24.
My partners and I own the Beagle Pub and the building the pub is in. The tax bill for the house next to us is likely about $4,000 per year. Our taxes are $56,000 and rising.
Why should business property taxes be different than residential? There is zero logic here, only the whim of our extreme-left council, which arbitrarily decided to make our taxes 3.69 times higher (or 14 times higher in my case), than 2.5 years ago. Why?
Coun. Ben Isitt gives us this answer: “Business people, by and large, have larger incomes.”
Here’s what’s wrong with that statement:
• The vast majority of businesses are mom-and-pop shops, where you will always find the owners working away for much less income than the average government worker earns.
• There are income taxes and corporate taxes. The more someone makes, the more taxes they pay. That goes for everyone, and there is no special case for business owners.
• Independent business owners are the economic engine of Canada and employ the most people. We need to be nurtured, not abused. But abuse is the name of the game lately: rising minimum wages and now MSP fees.
It seems to be a common sentiment in Victoria that business owners are endlessly rich and don’t care about the planet.
This couldn’t be more wrong. We risk everything and therefore have to work harder and have to care more. Our reward isn’t income, it’s being the masters of our own destiny — if the government would let us.
Bart Reed
Victoria
