A popular argument across Ontario is that residents of Toronto don’t pay their fair share of taxes, based on the fact the city has a lower property tax rate than surrounding communities.

Some people outside Toronto have contacted me to say if Toronto residents paid more in property tax, the city would not need so much money from the province, which would be better for everyone.

Indeed, there are many people who love to insist that “other” people do not pay their “fair share”.

It is always these “other” people they believe need to pay more.

In the real world, few of us ever say: “You know, upon review, I am just not being taxed enough.”

If someone does ever say that to you, ask them if they have taken advantage of the opportunity afforded to them to send extra money to the treasury of one or more of the three levels of government — municipal, provincial and federal — to which we all pay taxes.

In fact few people volunteer to pay more.

Toronto itself, for example, offers taxpayers this opportunity and the Toronto Sun reported that in 2013, “218 voluntary donations added up to $19,951”.

But what we can say about Toronto taxpayers is that they pay more in provincial and federal taxes than they get back in provincial and federal services.

Studies on this issue are not regularly done, so the numbers I have are not up to date.

But I am told by a reliable source at City Hall that the situation has not changed significantly since the study I quote from below was done.

It was by University of Calgary economics professor Ronald Kneebone, in a paper published by the C.D. Howe Institute, reported in 2007 by the Globe and Mail.

People seem to have forgotten it.

It said that, “based on averages between 1986 and 2002, Torontonians each paid $1,717 more in taxes every year than they received back in provincial and federal programs and services.”

That means Toronto residents are already paying more than their “fair share.”

In fact, Toronto is contributing more tax money than it takes back in services, so it is either uninformed or greedy to suggest Torontonians should pay even more.

The second widely held belief is if property taxes were raised in Toronto it would mean the province would have more money.

But that money would not go to the province, since property tax stays in the city.

Whether Toronto should charge property taxpayers a higher tax rate for city services is a fair topic for discussion.

But even if it did, it would not benefit Oshawa or North Bay. It would just mean people in Toronto would pay more in property taxes.

The only way the rest of the province would benefit would be if property taxes were raised in Toronto and the province simultaneously reduced its contributions to the city by the same amount.

But how would that be “fair” since Torontonians already pay more in provincial taxes than they get back in provincial services?

The fact is that provincial services in the rest of the province are funded in part by the massive amount of money flowing to Queen’s Park from Toronto.

Instead of pointing the bony finger of blame at someone else, we should all cooperate in demanding politicians stop misspending so much of the huge amounts of money all of us already give them.

Agar hosts the 9 a.m. to noon show on Newstalk1010