By Mark Reusser, Director, Ontario Federation of Agriculture

Ontario farmers are facing pressure from every direction. Rising costs, higher interest rates, growing debt and an unpredictable global trade environment are making it harder to remain profitable.

That helps explain why taxation is consistently the number one policy priority in the Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s annual Farm Business Confidence Survey – and it was again this year too. Members also identified taxes as one of the greatest impacts on their businesses.

Farmers aren’t asking for special treatment. What we’re asking for is a tax system that’s fair and one area where that fairness can be improved is the way farmland is taxed.

I farm in Waterloo Region and a resolution about fairer farmland taxation from my local federation of agriculture was recently adopted by our provincial board, where I sit as a board director.

The provincial government already recognizes that farmland requires fewer municipal services than residential, commercial or industrial properties. That’s why it has its own property tax class, with a maximum tax rate set at 25 per cent of the residential rate.

The premise is simple. Farmland doesn’t require municipal water or wastewater systems or place the same demands on recreation facilities, libraries and many other municipal services.

Farms do, however, rely on municipal services. Well-maintained roads, emergency services and other essential infrastructure are critical to every farm business, and farmers should absolutely help pay for those services.

Farmhouses and the first acre surrounding them are already taxed at the full residential rate because that’s where people live and use municipal services. The reduced tax rate applies only to the farmland itself.

The real question is whether today’s maximum rate of 25 per cent accurately reflects the actual cost of servicing agricultural land.

After years of detailed research and analysis, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture believes it does not.

Our analysis indicates the actual cost of servicing farmland is much lower — closer to about half the current maximum rate. That’s why OFA is asking the provincial government to reduce the maximum allowable farmland tax ratio from 25 per cent to 15 per cent.

This request is rooted in a simple principle of fairness: every property class should contribute based on the cost of the municipal services it actually receives. Farmland consistently costs municipalities less to service than other property classes, yet today’s tax ratio no longer reflects that reality.

Fair taxation is about keeping Ontario agriculture competitive.

Property taxes are a fixed cost that farmers pay regardless of how much crop their land produces, livestock prices or weather. Combined with rising costs for labour, equipment, fertilizer, fuel and financing, they make it harder for farm businesses to invest, innovate and plan for the future.

Fair taxation isn’t just good for farmers. Agriculture contributes billions of dollars to Ontario’s economy, supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and provides the safe, reliable food Ontarians depend on every day.

When farms remain financially strong, they continue investing in their businesses, supporting local suppliers and creating economic activity throughout Ontario – such as supporting jobs for about 10 per cent of our provincial workforce.

Municipalities face financial pressures too and fair taxation for farmland and strong municipal finances should go hand in hand. That’s why OFA also supports increased provincial investment in rural municipalities by restoring the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund to its inflation-adjusted 2005 funding level of $985 million and allocating an additional $1.5 billion to rural infrastructure investments. Ontario farmers and rural municipalities both benefit when communities have the resources they need to thrive.

Every property class should contribute fairly based on the municipal services it receives. Because farmland assessment values have risen dramatically in recent years, farmers are carrying an increasingly larger share of the municipal property tax burden.

Updating Ontario’s maximum farmland tax ratio to better reflect the actual cost of servicing farmland would help restore fairness to the property tax system while helping ensure Ontario farmers can continue producing the food, fuel, fibre and flowers that benefit us all.

For more information or to request an interview:

Tyler Brooks
Director of Communications and Stakeholder Relations
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
519-821-8883
[email protected]