It will soon cost more for a property owner to keep a home vacant.
Windsor City Council approved at its Monday night meeting a plan to impose a three per cent on owners of vacant properties. The percentage will be against the property's current municipal assessment.
With the approval, the administration will submit an application to the Ontario Ministry of Finance. If that goes through, the tax could take effect as soon as January 1, 2024. The City would also employ two full-time people to oversee the plan.
According to the bylaw submitted to Council, a vacant property is defined as any that has been unoccupied for at least 183 days in a taxation year.
Supporters of the tax believed that it would motivate vacant property owners to either occupy the property or sell it, to help ease the city's housing crunch.
Among the exceptions are a unit that is under construction, or a home that is vacant up to two years after the registered owner of the property dies.
-with files from Maureen Revait
