Toronto now the Bedroom Community of 905: Study
If you ask Les Liversidge why he left Toronto for Markham, he is quick to answer: "It was the business taxes, principally the tax bill on the building itself that did it."
Four years ago, the 55-year-old lawyer owned a building in north Toronto out of which he ran a small firm that practised occupational safety and workers` compensation law. His dilemma was property taxes -- they had gone through the roof.
Taxes are one factor -- albeit a major one -- that have helped push the city of Toronto down the list on the FP/ Canadian Federation of Independent Business rankings of entrepreneurial cities. Toronto is now dead last on a list of 96, while suburban Toronto, known as the 905 district, sits at 33. The evidence is clear that businesses, some with a need to stay close to Toronto, are opting for the suburbs.
At one point, Mr. Liversidge said he was paying $4,000 to $6,000 in taxes on the 1½-storey building he occupied from 1992 to 2005, but a new assessment on the property put the tax at $65,000 to $70,000. Increases were capped by legislation but, even with the cap, his bill jumped to $27,000.
He could see the writing on the wall.
Mr. Liversidge owned a property that was only going to get more expensive to run.
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