The Grand Parade Podcast: Nova Scotia’s Property Taxes Subsidize Millionaires and Landlords. Here’s how to fix it.

Tnote the old phrase, “Be careful what you wish for.” In 2005, when Nova Scotia introduced its Capped Assessment Program, the stated goal was keep seniors and families at home that might otherwise have been discounted. The solution of the day was to limit property tax increases to no more than annual inflation. It sounds thoughtful – and indeed, it worked. But then the price of homes in Halifax skyrocketed, and nothing has ever been the same.

On this week’s Big pageant podcast, writer Deny Sullivan joins Coast reporters Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman to discuss the unintended consequences of the cap, namely how it led to some mansions being undertaxed by $3 million, and how it also hurt owners of investment properties has protected multiple homes from paying more for their additional assets. Sullivan suggests what he describes “The perfect tax increase”: A way to return $100 million annually to HRM.

Plus all the news from the July 11 HRM Council meeting, including a lively debate on the Halifax Forum renovations and the future of the Integrated Mobility Plan.

And here’s the map referenced in the show. The teal areas are the mandatory density areas.