City’s new property tax plan 2010

When driving out to the Kingswood subdivision off Hammonds Plains Road, just beyond Bedford is Kingswood, there are thousands of glamorous houses that worth more than a million dollars, plucked down on half-acre to two-acre lots, on roads that stretch perhaps 10 kilometers into a previously undeveloped forest.
Kingswood is much of an undeveloped area; there are no schools, grocery stores or other businesses, fire stations, parks, nor are there bike lanes or sidewalks. It is much impossible for residents to get anywhere without a car, so most of the houses have two- or three- or even more car garages.
If one could do some research in Kingswood, it’s good to see how an arcane and complex proposal at City Hall, called “tax reform,” can play out in the real world. The main thing that “Tax reform” does is, shift much of the residential property tax burden in HRM off homes in the urban core and onto homes out in the suburbs. A lot of urban homeowners think this is a fine idea.

According to one “tax reform” advocate, it costs as much as three times more to service a house in Kingswood or Fall River as it does a home that is on a 40×100-foot lot in the city.

Driving a little further out Hammonds Plains Road, turning up Pockwock Road following to the community of Upper Hammonds Plains, you may see small houses, that are weather-beaten, but well-maintained, including a handful of home businesses, ie. a car repair shop, a sawmill and the Emmanuel Baptist Church and the community centre.

You need to select at least 10 homes for the research. After using assessment information provided by the county and tax information provided by the city, under the “tax reform” proposal, the results are : those living in suburban areas in Kingswood will be rewarded with a huge tax cut, while residents in the modest old black Loyalist community will have to pay their taxes more than doubled.