Is Laneway Housing the Next Big Thing?

BlogTO.com this week poses the question: Can this condo jumpstart laneway housing in Toronto? I hope so! Laneway housing has already caught on in Vancouver (with more than 800 green-lit to date), and with roughly 250 km of laneways in Toronto, many in high-priced neighbourhoods, it seems like a great idea. Small-scale urban living, in great established neighbourhoods, and all intimately low-rise.

The “this condo” to which they refer is Lanehouse on Bartlett, a century-old former yarn factory at Bloor and Dufferin under development by Curated Properties comprising 13 loft-houses and three flats. Planning staff, says BlogTO, are currently evaluating how the increased height and vehicle traffic will affect the neighbourhood. Developers of laneway homes must prove that sewage, water, and electricity connections can be safely accommodated, garbage and fire trucks have access, and the neighbours won’t be too badly overlooked.

A 2003 study estimated that more than 6,000 new homes could be developed on existent laneways, resulting in more than $11 million a year in new property taxes and $30 million in development charges. Plus, they often make good use of historic buildings, allow for some great features like bathroom skylights, and personify cool urban design. What’s not to like?

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Speaking of property taxes, is last week’s assertion by the Toronto Sun that the municipalities are being “held hostage” by an OPP pay raise a bit overblown? In reporting that an 8.55% pay increase for OPP officers (part of the province’s commitment to make them the highest paid police officers in Ontario) would force up property taxes, the paper ran just such a headline.

The raise, which took effect Jan. 1, meant, for instance, a 2.9% increase in Tecumseh, east of Windsor, which mayor Gary McNamara told the Sun would mean a pinch for those on fixed incomes. “I’m not even enhancing the services in the community and my costs are increasing dramatically,” he said.

Mayors of other municipalities echoed the sentiments. “People aren’t going to be happy about this but we really have little choice,” said one. While the number of serious motor vehicle accidents are down and calls for service stable, municipal costs for OPP services has gone up substantially, by some estimates at as much as twice the rate of other services, and one fear is that EMS and fire services workers will be eye-balling the raise.

But why the shock and outrage about the property tax hike? That such raises will ultimately be borne by taxpayers is nothing out of the ordinary. If Toronto City Council were faced with such a raise, Toronto taxes would go up too.

The contract that former premier McGuinty signed a couple of years ago gave the OPP no raise for two years, followed by this substantial raise in 2014. That works out to 2.85% a year, hardly exorbitant. (The Sun reported that the two years with no raises did in fact mean salary hikes of 2% in 2012 and 4% in 2013 for 11 categories of officers.) Plus, we knew about it three years ago. Where did the municipalities think that money was going to come from?

What this boils down to is simple, and it has little to do with the math: How much do you think OPP services are worth? An OPP constable with three years on the job now gets an annual base salary of $90,621. Let’s say your property taxes are $4,000 a year, and they’re now going up 3%. That’s another $120 a year, or $10/month. Is an OPP constable’s services worth $10 a month more out of your pocket?

Before you answer, let me remind you that when Toronto Constable John Zivcic was killed in December at age 34, he was the 23rd Ontario police officer to die in the line of duty since 2000. Bear in mind also that police officer suicide rates average more than double that of the general population. If that were your son or daughter, would $10 a month seem like a lot to pony up?

Perhaps even more disturbing, let me remind you that executives at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) saw their salaries go up by 50% in the same time period, despite a salary freeze for other managers in the public sector: “total compensation for the 10 highest-paid executives at the OLG jumped 49% to $3.6 million in 2012 from $2.4 million in 2010,” said the Globe and Mail. Rod Phillips, CEO of the OLG, took home $672,989 in 2012, including $297,989 in bonuses. A mere PR flack at the OLG makes more than six figures. More than 88,000 public sector workers make more than six figures, in fact, and most of them aren’t nurses, doctors or police officers. Teachers often make more than the OPP officers, even with this new raise. A “consultant” at the Bruce-Grey Catholic School Board makes $104,829, and I don’t even know what that job is. Their elementary school program coordinator makes $128,411 — that’s more than the psychologist who makes $104,386. Our members of Parliament make $160,000.

Where do you think those salaries come from?

The public pays for public servants, one way or another. I do feel for those on fixed incomes, but it’s hard to feel too sorry for people whose property taxes go up by $10 a month, when you consider the very fact of their paying property taxes means they own property. In fact, in Canada, nearly 70% of the population owns a home of their own. That’s amazing even among wealthy first-world nations (Denmark? 51%. Germany? 42%). The average Canadian, according to numbers just released by Statistics Canada, makes $48,250 a year. Even that is hardly a pittance.

Before any of us bother to work up a head of steam about this latest property tax hike, let’s take a look at the whole picture, and set some priorities. If I were going to expend the energy to be upset about anything, it would be that my tax dollars help pay a “consultant” more than $100Gs, not that I have to kick in an extra $10 a month to pay a police officer.