private golf courses should pay more property tax than public in Toronto

Under agreements signed within the 1950s and 1960s, these playgrounds for the affluent have up to now been spared from paying about $37 million in tax for the city. Hence the criticism.

In August couple of years ago, city council voted to attempt to reach a whole new arrangement with club owners, the one which would start to see the existing deal axed at least enable more public Ping K15 Hybrids using this land.

But, as reported by the Star's Robyn Doolittle, little may be done this far. It's reasonable to anticipate courses to pay more, particularly with Toronto facing a chronic budget shortfall in addition to rising user fees, slashed city services far better property taxes this season. As well as the outlook is becoming worse, with additional pain expected in the 2013 budget.

In these situations it's galling to locate clubs serving a number of the city's wealthiest residents deferring many of the annual property taxes.

In fairness, the offer underlying it provided mutual benefit by successfully preserving green space in Canada's largest city. Decades ago, during an earlier building boom, municipal officials worried that golf courses will be bought up by developers and used by housing. In order to avoid that, agreements were signed with nine private clubs permitting them to only pay a portion of their property tax as long as they continued to serve as courses. Which has, to date, freed them from paying $37 million. If your club comes Ping G20 fairway wood or developed, all of its tax plus interest will come due.

The sale seems ironclad; otherwise the town would've rewritten it years back. Owners are actually uncertain about their tax situation while using province-wide Municipal Property Assessment Corp. changing the way it evaluates golf courses. But that appears in the operation for being solved.

So there's no real excuse for additional delay. More payment is in order. It might be unfair to expect country discount golf clubs proprietors to cover all the tax which has been deferred. But they and their members cannot in good conscience adhere to the same sweet deal they've enjoyed for these past decades. That could amount to an abandonment of these civic obligation.