Sault Ste. Marie to implement vacant home tax

The City of Sault Ste. Marie will soon be charging owners of vacant properties a special tax.

City council approved a proposal from administration to implement a vacant home tax as a means of dealing with an increase in empty properties and out-of-town investors buying properties and leaving them vacant.

Peter Tonazzo, director of planning, said the tax would apply to structures that have been empty for a long time and showing obvious signs of neglect.

“Really what we’re trying to target is these persistently vacant homes that have been unkempt, unmaintained, and quite frankly are having a lot of negative impacts around their neighbourhoods,” said Tonazzo.

Once the tax is in place, he said it will not be up to city staff to patrol neighbourhoods in search of vacant properties.

“We’re looking at more of a complaint-based program because we feel that’s the only feasible way for us to do it,” he said.

“We’ve got 34,000 households, dwelling units, there’s no way that we can go out and have all of those tell us whether they’re vacant or not.”

City council voted unanimously in favour of implementing the tax. One downtown councillor said she is confident that she and other councillors will be able to alert staff to vacant properties.

“All of us as city councillors, we know our wards, we know our neighbourhoods,” said Lisa Vezeau-Allen.

“I think we can definitely compile a list without putting the onus on the bylaw officer to make this move forward. So, I already have four or five addresses that I know that once this is ongoing that we can definitely address.”

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City staff have yet to determine what percentage of the assessed value of the property will be taxed, along with some other factors that still need to be worked out.

However, there will be some exemptions to the vacant home tax covering ‘snowbirds’ and those receiving extensive, out-of-town medical treatments.