Vacant Unit Tax

As most residents are now aware, residential property owners in the City of Ottawa are now required to submit a declaration of occupancy, which determines whether or not those properties are subject to the newly launched Vacant Unit Tax. Ever since residents received their first notification on this last December, and especially since the online declaration portal opened on January 4th, our office has received a significant number of emails and phone calls about this. We've received a diverse array of responses, as you can imagine: some positive, many negative, others simply confused about the process.

All property owners must submit declarations for their property/properties between January 4th and March 16th. Failure to submit the declaration by the deadline may result in the Vacant Unit Tax being applied. Late declarations will be accepted until April 30 and will be subject to a $250 late fee. For 2023, the late fee will be waived to provide additional time for residents to complete their declaration.  

Certainly, this is a new and unusual way of administrating a program in Ottawa, especially a tax. It will take some getting-used-to. But it's important to remember the objectives behind this new initiative, which is that it's a tool to help address our city's housing crisis. Not only does this new program incentivize owners of vacant properties to get their properties on the market - and thereby increasing Ottawa's housing supply - but it will also generate significant revenue to support affordable housing initiatives. 

The City of Ottawa has implemented this model of mandatory declaration because they are confident that it's ultimately the best means possible to get up-to-date, complete and accurate data. The City has researched Vacant Unit Tax models in Canada and around the globe. The mandatory declaration by property owners has proven to be the most successful model. Alternative models such as voluntary declarations or complaint-based were found to be ineffective, inefficient and inequitable to property owners. 

The good news is that the process of submitting your declaration is quite simple, with several options for how to declare, based on your access needs. In fact, as of January 30th the City has received more than 220,000 submissions, which means that more than 70% of residential properties have declared. They City has also produced a useful video for "How to complete the Vacant Unit Tax declaration"

There are several methods that can be used to register your property, with most declarations going through the online declaration portal. You can also submit your declaration by phone. All of the necessary instructions and information is detailed in the second notification letter that was sent to residents this week. 

Residents should also note that the program is financially self-sustaining (i.e., the program generates more revenue than it costs to operate). The current projections are that Vacant Unit Tax program will generate $25M in additional revenue over 5 years, to be allocated to affordable housing initiatives.

While I am generally supportive of the objectives of the Vacant Unit Tax - which means that I do believe that vacant units that do not qualify for exemptions should be subject to this tax - I also share the concern of many councillors and residents that the communications and delivery process for this new program could have been better handled from the outset. However, the more recent communications tools have certainly improved the process. My most important concern, though, is to protect residents from being unfairly penalized for failing to submit their declaration; or even worse, for being unfairly charged an expensive tax. For these reasons, my office will be looking closely at the findings from this initial year of the program to seek improvements in targeting and delivery. 

If residents have further questions on this matter, please email our office at [email protected] 

 

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New Ways to Bus: Ward 9 Information Page

Thanks for visiting the Ward 9 information page on OC Transpo's New Ways to Bus (NWTB). This page is designed to provide you with some essential details on how the service changes may impact transit riders in Ward 9, including route adjustments, the rationale behind the changes, and how we have advocated for our residents.

We fully understand that many residents are legitimately frustrated with these changes. Many riders see these adjustments as another cost-cutting measure from OC Transpo, as they continue to face significant financial challenges. 

OC Transpo's New Ways to Bus revised route network will focus on frequency, local service in your neighbourhood, and connections to key destinations. Through these many adjustments, OC Transpo's aim is to increase the reliability of our bus route system. Riders will see a shift in the number of downtown-focused bus routes, to routes that improve connections to community hubs and key destinations. Some customers may have to go further to the bus stop, or require additional transfers to buses or trains, or will have longer overall travel times. In addition to fewer Connexion routes, some routes will be retired due to low ridership and to improve connections to new routes and the O-Train. Retired routes will be replaced with alternative service nearby.

For now, the position that Councillor Devine and his team are taking is that we are very sympathetic to those concerns, but that we need to help residents prepare, because these changes are coming soon. New Ways to Bus comes into effect April 27th. What our office is focused on is trying to ensure that our residents are prepared for the change, and monitoring how the new system performs in its initial weeks and months.

 

New Ways to Bus website

For the most comprehensive information available, OC Transpo has created a dedicated New Ways to Bus website, complete with many useful items, including: 

  • a New Ways to Bus network map
  • information on new signage
  • a detailed list of routes that will not change, and routes that will change

 

New Ways to Bus - Travel Planner

The OC Transpo Travel Planner has now been updated to include the New Ways to Bus routes that take effect April 27th. Try it out! Enter your trip information for a trip that you might take now and then enter the same trip information for a date after April 27th and see what kind of changes there will be. 

 

New Ways to Bus - Ward 9 Bus Routes 

You can find specific information on each route in the entire New Ways to Bus network on their new website. Our office has also compiled a series of PDF route maps for all of the Ward 9 bus routes

 

Public Information Sessions 

OC Transpo has organized a series of community events for residents to meet with OC Transpo staff to ask questions about changes in the New Ways to Bus system. The event that was held on April 4th at the Nepean Sportsplex was poorly attended because OC Transpo did no provide clear information about where the event was taking place. Residents are encouraged to attend other sessions.  

 

Councillor Devine's advocacy for Ward 9

Ever since the first draft of the New Ways to Bus network was rolled out well over a year ago, our office has been engaged with OC Transpo in trying to stop some of proposed changes. It wasn't altogether easy to get concessions, since Council has no authority over OC Transpo's operations. But we managed be successful in some of our attempts, though we were less successful in others. For the sake of transparency, we wanted to provide residents with a summary of our efforts over the last year. 

Routes 282/82 

  • What we won: It's shocking to believe, but in the original draft of the New Ways to Bus network, Route 82 would have seen its service frequency cut down to peak hours only. This would've been devasting to the western part of Ward 9, who are already seeing other decreases in service. After strong advocacy from our office, Route 82 will maintain full-day, seven-days-a-week service. During peak hours, it will connect to Tunney’s Pasture, offering a viable replacement for the discontinued 282 express route.
  • What we lost: Unfortunately, Route 282 was removed. While we fought to maintain express service, this decision reflects several lost express routes, due city-wide budget constraints. However, once the LRT Line 1 West extension is complete, riders will be able to take the 82 to Pinecrest Station, for a quicker ride downtown.   

Route 173 

  • What we lost: Route 173 will no longer service Manordale, becoming a local route serving Barrhaven instead. We continue to object to the questionable rational for this decision, as Barrhaven has more than enough routes serving it. We are committed to monitoring the impact of his lost service, in the hopes of restoring something.

Routes 111/112/189

  • What we won: When the first draft of the New Ways to Bus network was rolled out, we quickly noticed that the proposed changes to the 111/112 routes meant that there was no longer any bus service on Chesterton Drive, meaning that two schools, an apartment tower, and a large lower-income housing complex would see no service at all. Even worse, Chesterton Drive is on an incline! We pushed hard against this change, which resulted in Route 189 being re-directed to run along the entire length of Chesterton Drive. While this means riders will need to make an additional transfer, it would have been much worse if there was no route there at all.   

Routes 89/86

  • What we lost: Despite our advocacy, Routes 89 and 86 will see reductions and decreased frequency. We will continue to push for adjustments if transit reliability issues arise. 

There are several other changes to service routes in Ward 9, some of which will result in an increased level of service. We'll try to post more information on these changes shortly. 

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