(Canadian Tire Centre. Photo by Aaron Toth, via Flickr)
And you thought your property tax bill was high…
Somebody was asking the other day in a local Facebook group how much the Senators pay in property tax is each year, and how much of that goes to Stittsville. So we asked the City of Ottawa, and they came back with these numbers, right down to the penny.
Last year, Canadian Tire Centre and the surrounding parking lots had a tax bill of almost $1.5-million. All of the money goes into general city-wide revenue for the City of Ottawa. The arena is in Stittsville ward, but none of the money gets earmarked specifically for Stittsville projects.
That tax bill is just a bit more than the salaries for Mark Borowiecki and Jean-Gabriel Pageau. They each made $1.1-million USD this season, or just under $1.5-million in Canadian dollars.
| Tax year | Total Taxes Levied | Municipal Taxes | Education Taxes |
| 2012 | $1,650,023.13 | $937,730.61 | $712,292.52 |
| 2013 | $1,621,027.23 | $936,177.96 | $684,849.27 |
| 2014 | $1,570,701.22 | $917,729.48 | $652,971.74 |
| 2015 | $1,523,795.70 | $899,495.23 | $624,300.47 |
| 2016 | $1,491,107.26 | $877,342.06 | $613,765.20 |
| Total Taxes | $7,856,654.54 | $4,568,475.34 | $3,288,179.20 |
Why the reduction over the years? According to Wendy Stephanson, Deputy City Treasurer: “Some of the fluctuations in property tax are a result of the assessment increasing higher or lower than the average in the class. There were assessment appeals in the first few years after amalgamation. This property won their assessment appeal which resulted in a decrease in their taxes for 2011. For 2012-2016, the assessment increases for this property were below average for the commercial class and therefore they have continued to see a decline in their municipal and education taxes. This property is currently under appeal for the 2013-2016 taxation years and could receive an additional reduction in taxes.”
If you’re interested in a deep dive on how property value and tax amounts are assessed, here’s a staff report from 2010 that outlines some of the challenges involved.
By the way, we still haven’t heard any updates on what Senators Sports and Entertainment have planned for Canadian Tire Centre when the Sens move to Lebreton Flats. Stay tuned…
UPDATE (APRIL 12): In a letter to councillors on Wednesday about the Lebreton Flats development, Mayor Jim Watson touched on the potential impact of the Sens relocation: “As part of the report, I am also very mindful of the potential economic loss to Stittsville, Kanata and the West End of our City should the Canadian Tire Centre be relocated. I will work with the Ottawa Senators organization, West end councillors, businesses and residents to ensure that appropriate options are being developed to help make up for the loss of the arena.”