Mayor John Tory says the city is moving forward with a plan to tax property owners who let their homes and condos sit vacant.
"You can live in it, you can rent it, but if it sits empty you will pay a tax," Tory told reporters this morning.
A report on the issue is before the city's Executive Committee today. If it's approved by council later this month, the plan is to have the tax in place by 2022.
It'll be up to city staff to work out the amount of the tax, how it would be enforced and any exemptions.
Tory says most residents will not have to pay the tax.
He says there would be exemptions, for example, when home owners move out for renovations or if they spend half the year in Florida.
Tory says, "the real purpose of the tax, is not to have homes that are sitting vacant at a time when we have a shortage of housing in the city."
City staff estimate that a one percent tax could bring in between $55 million and $66 million per year.