Raise the Hammer

A Smith, unlike you I'm not trying to be gracious, if being an as$@#@% is the only way to get through your thick skull I'm willing to take one for the team.

"JonC has already provided numbers that confirm my argument that lower TAX RATES lead to higher revenue per property"

Total B.S. JonC's numbers only show that actual taxes paid are pretty uniform across the GTA. Are property values higher because tax rates are lower, or are tax rates lower in because property values are higher, are tax rates whatever they have to be to ensure an actual tax bill similar to the rest of the region?

You certainly haven't done anything to prove that it's the first alternative instead of the second, the third, or something else entirely.

"Now that his own numbers have contradicted his original assertion, namely that lower tax rates decrease revenue, he is falling back on the old, 'correlation does not equal causation' argument, which is akin to saying unless you have 100% proof, then your argument is irrelevant."

First of all, just because it's old doesn't mean it's not still valid. Cum hoc ergo propter hoc is an old one because it has tripped up alot of well-meaning (and also some ill-meaning) people over the centuries.

I'm sure you've heard about how every summer, ice cream sales skyrocket and so do cases of heat stroke. OBVIOUSLY ice cream causes heat stroke, right?

As for the rest of your case, "100% proof" would be nice but I'd settle for anything over and above your broken-record argument about cutting tax rates. So far, after spilling thousands and thousands of words, you have nothing to show.

In fact as JonC points out (and you conspicuously ignore) you pay less property tax in Hamilton than in other cities since our properties are a lot cheaper - so people should be flooding into Hamilton to take advantage of our lower costs.

Except that isn't happening. People aren't flooding into Hamilton to take advantage of our lower costs. If your harebrained theory about property taxes were true, people WOULD be flooding into Hamilton, since as you keep saying when costs are cheaper "many more people want to own property in Hamilton".

THIS ABSOLUTELY AND DIRECTLY CONTRADICTS YOUR THESIS.

Let me say it again: THIS ABSOLUTELY AND DIRECTLY CONTRADICTS YOUR THESIS.

You can keep bleating about RATES until your face falls off, HAMILTON ALREADY HAS CHEAPER TAXES THAN TORONTO, MISSISAUGA, and OAKVILLE and those cheaper taxes have not translated into "many more peple wanting to own property in Hamilton."

So in conclusion, either you're dishonest or you're an idiot.

Like I said, I'm not trying to not be an as$@#@%.