BC Liberal MLA Jordan Sturdy caught lying about school tax

By ThinkPol Staff

BC Liberal MLA Jordan Sturdy is being called out as a liar for spreading misinformation about the school tax imposed on homes worth more than $3 million by the BC NDP government.

“It’s not a “school tax”,” the West Vancouver West Vancouver-Sea to Sky
MLA tweeted on Saturday afternoon. “It’s an asset tax. $4 million house (which I don’t have) will cost you about $500/month in tax. An $8 million house will cost you $2200/month. That’s a lot of money for a paper only gain. Maybe your unrealized investment returns will be targeted next.”

But Metro Vancouver’s twitterati quickly pounced on him.

Housing advocate Brad Barrett tweeted a webpage from West Vancouver municipality’s official website that showed that Sturdy’s numbers were wildly inaccurate^[1]https://westvancouver.ca/government/financial-information/school-tax.

The math is even sitting right on district of West Vancouver's website for him and he still got it wrong. Must have used one of @Mike_de_Jong's calculators, math never very strong for @bcliberals, accounting shell games and misleading public otoh… https://t.co/M0W9L1EKgK pic.twitter.com/jsuL4WSNh5

— Brad Barrett (@brad_barrett) May 6, 2018

The school tax for a four million dollar home would be $2,000 per year – a third of what Sturdy said.

The tax for an eight million dollar property would be $18,000 per year – nearly 50% less than the MLA’s number.

Metro Vancouver twitter users are accusing Jordan of using “Trump tactics” to scale people who don’t know facts.

Even Jordan isn't that stupid. He's simply spreading lies. It's a Trump tactic and he's using it to scare people who don't know the facts. Sadly for him most of us in West Vancouver passed a lot more math than he did.

— JJ Schtaunkhauser (@Schtaunkhauser) May 6, 2018

“Even Jordan isn’t that stupid,” a West Vancouver resident who goes by the twitter handle JJ JJ Schtaunkhauser tweeted. “He’s simply spreading lies. It’s a Trump tactic and he’s using it to scare people who don’t know the facts. Sadly for him most of us in West Vancouver passed a lot more math than he did.”

Sturdy deleted the tweet on Saturday without offering a correction or an apology.

Meanwhile, BC’s Attorney General David Eby, who has borne the brunt of the wealthy homeowners’ anger over the housing reforms, has explained in a blog post that even after the school tax, Vancouver homeowners will end up paying significantly lower property taxes that their counterparts in other major cities in Canada^[2]http://davidebymla.ca/news/the-school-tax-increase-on-homes-valued-over-3m-some-factual-information/.

For example, a the taxes on a four million dollar home in Vancouver, even with the school taxes, would be paying a less than third of what a homeowner in Ottawa or Montreal will pay, and less than half of the property taxes levied in Calgary or Toronto.

Eby also explains that seniors and parents of young children are able to defer these taxes under very favourable terms.

“BC Property owners who are disabled, over 55, or with children under 18 years old can defer taxes in a program that has been available since 1974,” Eby said. “It is a program that offers extremely low fees, very favorable rates, and simple rather than compound interest. In fact it has been criticized for being non-means tested and actually being too favourable in its terms. Seniors who want to stay in their houses and defer taxes are welcome to do so, and many are already using this program.”

The Attorney General was planning to explain this to homeowners at a town hall meeting last week, but had to cancel the even over security concerns after the BC Liberal leader and the Leader of the Official Opposition Andrew Wilkinson incited his supporters to crash Eby’s meeting^[3]http://davidebymla.ca/news/may-1-forum-and-community-office-cancelled-and-closed-due-to-safety-concerns-please-read-davids-letter-below/.