HELPING SENIORS STAY IN THEIR OWN HOMES
Property Tax Grant of Up To $500 Will Help Seniors Remain Independent
WOODBRIDGE - The Ontario Liberals will provide low and middle income seniors with a property tax grant of up to $500 to ensure they can stay in their own homes, says Premier Dalton McGuinty.
"Everything we do today is only possible because of what our seniors have done before us and for us," McGuinty said.
"So we have a shared responsibility to ensure that our seniors can live healthy, active lives and - when they prefer - independent lives, in their own homes."
Most seniors who own their own homes will qualify for the grant.
All individual seniors who own their own homes will qualify for the tax grant if their income is less than $50,000 a year, and those earning less than $35,000 a year will qualify for the maximum grant of $500.
Couples who are seniors and own their own home will qualify for the tax grant if their joint income is less than $60,000, and those with a joint income less than $45,000 a year will qualify for the maximum grant of $500.
"The Harris Tory downloads of responsibilities and costs onto municipalities and municipal taxpayers hit some homeowners particularly hard, especially seniors," McGuinty said.
'As we have dug out of the financial hole we inherited, we have been uploading those responsibilities as fast as we can afford. And there is more to do with municipalities," he said.
"In the meantime, we need to help the hardest hit, especially low and middle income seniors worried that property taxes could force them to leave their own homes."
