TORONTO

Olivia Chow promised Tuesday to hike the land transfer tax imposed on the city’s most expensive properties.

Describing it as an attempt to make Toronto’s land transfer tax “more progressive,” Chow pledged that — if elected mayor on Oct. 27 — she would target homes over $2 million.

Under her plan, the city’s portion of the land transfer tax imposed on homes or condos selling for more than $2 million would increase from 2% to 3%. Currently, buyers who purchase a residential dwelling for more than $400,000 must pay the city a 2% land transfer tax.

The proposed change would yield an extra $20 million a year for the city, according to the Chow campaign.

Chow also committed to spending an additional $2 million a year on student nutrition programs and millions more to push ahead with engineering studies for the downtown relief line.

In the press conference inside her campaign office, Chow stressed the land transfer tax increase would only apply to around 500 transactions a year.

“Surely those people that can afford $2 (million) or $10 million homes, adding 1% in the transaction fees on the land transfer fees I don’t think it is too much,” Chow said.

“I think it’s fair, it’s progressive and that’s the way that we can find some extra revenue so that we can move people faster and make sure kids are not hungry in school.”

The John Tory campaign was quick to shoot down Chow’s plan.

“What we’re seeing here is evidence of Olivia Chow’s hard left turn in an effort to appeal to her NDP base and revive her floundering campaign,” said Tory campaign spokesman Amanda Galbraith.

“This isn’t the first tax hike Olivia Chow has proposed, and it won’t be the last.”

The David Soknacki campaign called Chow’s plan “regressive.”

“Ms. Chow doesn’t seem to care that home prices are rising, but transfer tax brackets aren’t rising to compensate — so her plan will actually make this tax more regressive over time,” Soknacki stated in a press release.

Doug Ford — Rob Ford’s campaign manager — said the city “can’t increase taxes based on supporting the breakfast program.”