Ending tax incentives for parking lots

My motion to have City Staff review Ottawa’s commercial property class tax rates was unanimously passed at City Council on April 11. The parking lot and vacant land tax rate is the lowest of all commercial tax rates, meaning a small business owner pays a higher tax ratio than the owner of an empty parking. At a time when our City wants to invigorate our main streets, encourage small business and intensify within the urban boundary, this tax disparity incentivizes the opposite – empty lots and surface parking. Read more >>