So I have been busy lately. the type of busy that fills you with panic and hopelessness. How and why you ask , well lets just thank our wonderful city workers and government. So , my family business has had the same yard downtown for over 40 years. We have rented from one mayor to the next. Never getting a proper rental agreement or time frame of how long they would let us stay. We were never truly able to set up a proper shop thanks to that, but eventually we got comfortable in our situation.
40 Years !
We are a disposal company , we have roll off bins , trucks and lots of equipment. Not to mention all the past work trucks and machines accumulated over the years , projects long abandon. Much to our surprise at the end of February a letter comes in the mail .... YOU HAVE 30 DAYS....... Wait ... WHAT ???????? 30 DAYS , ARE THEY INSANE . I would not say insane exactly. Heartless , callous , indifferent maybe. To say the least it was full panic mode ahead. Ive spent the last month going gray , not sleeping and busting my balls trying to do the impossible. Clean 40 years in 30 days. NOT GONNA HAPPEN...
So lets see... How shit has the city treated us. Lest start a few years back when they decided to jack our rent up. Having some douche bag pull up in his $ 100,000 bmw and tell us our rent is now increased 400% is a start. His suit probably cost more than the jeep i was driving , but i guess he had to justify his pension and pay somehow. Fast forward to a few years ago and what new thing to they like to drop on us..... only a $20 000 land tax , and give us 4 months to pay or get out. Real easy for a small business. But lets not forget , the city and mayor are pro small business ( lots of sarcasm there).
Now what does one do when they need more time. Contact the city officials . Well the first one I have discussions with tells me how bad he feels ( YEA RIGHT) and we should stay in contact to try and get an extension. Well , since we are supposed to stay in touch you think he would return my calls right .....NOPE HE WENT ON VACATION .... Yep gone.
At this point A letter to the mayor was in order. This was getting unreal. No way to clean up , find a new place AND do day to day work. Now if i could rate how useless the mayor of Toronto's office is , it be close to tits on a bull. Finally after 12 or so fruitless emails they finally point me into what seems like the proper direction for getting more time. I get an email saying another month should be no problem pending some book keeping. Book keeping eh ... Somehow we now owe another $21 000 ... The dick around this city and its officials have given us is beyond comical. Its not surprising the clusterfuck that is the city of Toronto. I have yet to hear a peep from the mayor not surprising, seems he really cares about the small business and what goes on under his nose.
As of now , we have to figure out the financial issues but we are staying for another month at least. I can now sorta sleep at night knowing we have another month.
Sorry if i come across jumping all over the place , having a clear concise thought has been at a premium under all this stress.
If you ever have to deal with the city as a small business , bed over and get some lube. Its gonna hurt. Unless of course you can pay them off or have some nepotism.
That is so brutal! Small businesses in the GTA can't afford any more taxes.
No more tax's and fees. They are driving out small business and giving tax brakes to huge corporations.
I think the issue is the type of business too - if your business doesn't have people with suits walking in and out, it can't fit into a commercial condo unit and it isn't considered "green" than it's the wrong business. The city will probably redevelop the land - they will do anything to push out small businesses who own a substantial amount of land (and if they can't they will just take it). Plus all the "progressive" people living here hate cars and hate "conservatives", they will zone every blue collar job out of the city. If your company isn't involved in organized crime or bribery than it is safe to say it didn't stand a chance. I am willing to bet it will be replaced with a new residential condo - they can make more in taxes if it's redeveloped into a condo, doesn't really matter how it effects the city in their eyes more people = more money.
Shit man... this situation blows... I know you'll figure it out though!