Over time, landlords pass property taxes through in rents, especially for new tenants, while businesses pass commercial property tax increases through in prices. municipalities–which we define as operating spending growth that exceeds population growth and CPI inflation–totalled about $6.5 billion over 2010-24. Most of the excess spending growth is in core areas like protective services, parks, development services, transport and transit, and sewer services. taxpayers should be asking: are they getting best-in-the-country local services to justify highest-in-the-country property tax inflation? municipalities should be required to benchmark operating spending growth against population growth and CPI inflation.