‘Rain Tax’ In Canada Sparks Resident Anger, What Does It Mean?

As we all know, every day, when people buy things or use services, they pay taxes. These taxes help our communities by funding important things like hospitals, and schools. 

Canada is about to impose Rain Tax, which has to be paid by a few people. They’re doing this to handle rainwater better in Toronto. The initiative will ensure that the city can manage heavy rains without causing problems.

According to the official website of Toronto, the city officials are planning and thinking about bringing in a new policy in tax remuneration known as ‘Rain Tax’ which will be starting in April. The government is planning for this tax that would help Toronto to tackle the rainwater issues. It’s all about making sure the city can handle heavy rains smoothly, without any hiccups.

Announcements had been made on Toronto’s website which mentioned that the government would be teaming up with water users for a program named ‘Stormwater Charge & Water Service Charge Consultation’. Which is all about sorting out issues with managing the stormwater, which will be known as the ‘Rain Tax’. 

Opinions have been asked from water users and others involved in this planning. Actually, there’s a survey going on this ‘Rain Tax’, hoping that people will join in before 30th April. The motto of this is to gather everyone’s ideas on how to handle rainwater better in the city than before to avoid floods during heavy rain.

As it was announced, the government website says that stormwater includes rainwater and the water from where the snow melts. When this water can’t soak into the ground, it flows over surfaces like streets, roofs, and driveways. After flowing through pipes and drains made for rain, it finds its way into rivers and streams. In simple terms, it’s rainwater that doesn’t soak into the ground and instead flows into our local waterways.

As per reports, most of the officials are considering adding a ‘stormwater charge’ for every type of property that the residents of Toronto are holding on to. The government is also planning to create a special program that would reward credits on this charge for larger properties to the residents. As this will be combined with the administrative water charges known as a ‘water service charge’.

Awareness has also been created by the government to the residents through their website pointing out the bad effects of too much stormwater which can lead to flood basements and make the water in rivers, streams, and lakes dirty. 

The stormwater charge proposal by the government mainly aims to increase the bills that Toronto residents pay for water. This extra charge would be based on how much a property adds to stormwater runoff, like from roofs, driveways, and parking lots. By considering these factors, they’ll determine how much each property needs to pay to help tackle this environmental problem.

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