Barrie Clulow

The Ultimate Slap In The Face

After a closed door meeting council voted to stick Georgina Taxpayers with the bill for a defamation lawsuit by Mayor Grossi against the former Georgina Leisure services Director John McLean. You can read more about this decision and Help stop your tax dollars from paying for the lawsuit. There is also an online petition to stop the funding for Mayor Grossi's lawsuit.

An article in the Georgina Advocate indicated Mayor Grossi would donate any funds he receives as a result of his lawsuit to a charity yet to be named.

The irony is he will likely get a charitable tax receipt that he can then use to reduce his personal taxable income.

The Ultimate Slap In The Face

Should this happen it would be the ultimate slap in the face to taxpayers who would have footed the bill for the resources used to obtain the funds used to fund his tax deductions.

You May Not Get A Personal Reminder From The Tax Office That Your 2011 Property Taxes Are Due

But Failure to pay them on time will result in an immediate penalty of 1.25%.

The last installment of your Uxbridge property taxes are due by Friday September 30th, 2011.

Monthly Payment/Pre-Authorized Payments

Uxbridge offers two different methods or plans for pre-authorized payments. The first is a monthly plan that authorizes the town to take your tax payments in 11 monthly installments directly from your bank account with the first payment being January the 1st and on the 1st of each month thereafter until the last payment on November the 1st . The second authorizes them to take four installment payments on the due dates usually the end of February, April, June and September. For more information visit The Treasury Department (tax office) or download the forms from the Town website.

Don't forget to save your recipted tax bill for income tax purposes
it will cost you $10.00 to get a reprinted one.

Modern Day Taxation

Taxes in one form or another have been with us throughout recorded history from the taxes collected by the Scribes of the Egyptian Pharaohs to the war time tax of the Athenians to the taxes imposed by the Roman Empire.

On the surface taxes today are collected in a manner deemed to be fair and equitable, unfortunately if one looks at the various means that some are able to employ to avoid taxes you begin to realize that the average person is likely paying more than his or her fair share.

There are few taxes that we can avoid but we can ensure we pay only our fair share by understanding how your property is assessed and what tax avoidance incentives there are for you to employ.

Some of my earlier posts may be of help to those wishing to ensure they pay only their fair share.

You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill - How Much Reserves/Surplus Is Enough

You And Your Property Tax Bill - The Illusion and The Reality

We Live In an Upside Down World

Yes we do.

There was a time

When mortgage interest rates were over 20%

When gasoline was 25 cents a gallon

When you could buy a 3 bedroom bungalow in Mid Scarborough for under $30,000

How Times Have Changed

Back in the late 60s

interest rates were under 6%

you could buy a gallon of Gasoline for .25 cents (About 5 1/2 cents per litre)

a three bedroom bungalow in mid Scarborough was going for $25,000 to $28,000. (our first house was $27,900)

It would have taken about 5 years of my entire annual income to pay for it in cash

Today

interest rates are still below 6%

a Gallon of gasoline is is just under $6.00 a gallon ($125.9 a litre and up into the $1.30 RANGE) almost a 2,300% increase

that mid scarborough bungalow is now selling for around $425,000
just under a 1525% increase.

If I were working in the same industry today it would still take about 5 years income to buy that house.

Local residents are being warned be on the lookout for the safety of their pets and livestock by a Udora resident who had an Alpaca destroyed by a bear or cougar.

Wild animals such as deer, rabbits, raccoons and skunks are often spotted in and around Udora and other areas of Georgina. On occasion we also hear of a resident black bear or two being spotted enjoying a feed of seed at someones bird feeder or galloping across their yard. This is the first time we have heard of a large animal being attacked and killed by another animal other than by coyotes.

This past weekend the brown Alpaca in the picture was attacked and killed, possibly by a bear or cougar, in the east side of Udora.

Are You Suffering From Tax Shock

Whew! Done for another year, all the receipts have been collected, tax slips organized and all in the hands of your friendly tax return preparer. All that is left to do is write the cheque and make sure it gets posted in time.

More Tax Pain

Unfortunately some may have been so busy getting all of the above wrapped up before the deadline they forgot all about another tax deadline.

The Second installment of your Gerogina property taxes are due by Thursday April 28th, 2011.

Failure to pay them on time will result in an immediate penalty of 1.25%.

From The Tax Office - Your Taxes Are Due

That's right folks, your second Georgina tax payment is due April 28th, 2011. If you miss the deadline an automatic 1 1/4% interest charge is added immediately and another 1 1/4% again on the 1st of every month after that until paid.

Property Taxes, Property Assessments, Income Taxes, Taxation and spendthrift governments. It's that time of year once again when these words start to fill our minds with thoughts of politicians who just do not get it, Politicians who think the taxpayer is an uneducated boob who will simply groan as they are rolled over and their pockets picked by this level or that of our political hierarchy.

Taxes in one form or another have been with us throughout recorded history from the taxes collected by the Scribes of the Egyptian Pharaohs to the war time tax of the Athenians to the taxes imposed by the Roman Empire.