Vacant homeowners to be hit with tax levy

Two vacant and boarded up homes are situated across the street from Elaine Lucas’ house.

“No one wants to look at that no matter where you live,” said the west-end resident.

Vacant and boarded up homes can be found in other neighbourhoods across the city.

“It's unacceptable that in a time when we're in the biggest housing crisis that we've ever seen, that there's also vacant homes in our community that have been vacant for many years,” said Ward 2 Coun. Fabio Costante.

The city launched an initiative Tuesday they feel will help decrease the number of empty homes by hitting owners in the pocket.

“This initiative will help boost the housing supply in Windsor by working to ensure that every available residential space contributes positively to the community's evolving housing needs,” Mayor Drew Dilkens said.

The Vacant Home Tax Program, first approved last November, will see owners of unoccupied homes hit with a 3 per cent levy on their property taxes if a place is unoccupied for more than 183 days, or about 6 months.

“The city will calculate the vacant home tax at 3 per cent of the 2023 impact assessed value for a residential property that was vacant in 2023. That tax will be billed and payable in 2024,” said Dilkens.

Lucas is hoping the initiative helps, but feels the success depends on who the owner is.

“Depends where the owners are, what their financial situation is, and if they're sitting on a surplus of money,” Lucas said. “A little slap on the wrist isn't going to do anything.”

Grass is being cut and some landscaping kept up on a block on Indian Road. Costante said some of the vacant homes in his ward are owned by the Ambassador Bridge Company.

“I don't know what exactly that's going to turn out to in terms of yearly, additional taxes they're going to have to pay but it's something that we can do, legislatively to try to encourage some kind of activity there,” said Costante.

According to the city, there is somewhere between 250 and 500 homes sitting empty. Net revenue generated from the program will be reinvested into the city's housing solutions.

The new initiative is complaint driven and residents are encouraged to call 3-1-1 to make a report. There are some exemptions, like if a property is up for sale, or the owners pull a building permit and renovations are taking place.

“If there's a death of a homeowner and the family is trying to deal with the estate, again we would take that under consideration,” said Janice Guthrie, commissioner of finance and treasurer.

CTV spoke with an owner of a boarded up and vacant home on the city’s west end.

He said he fully supports the Vacant Home Tax Program but would like the city to speed up the permit process. He said that is the reason his house has been in its current state for two years.