On a picturesque Newfoundland peninsula that is home to about a dozen Airbnb vacation rentals, 874 residents opt to govern themselves and pay no property taxes.
And they are not alone.
The province said there are 120 unincorporated areas, which are communities without a municipal government structure. About 20 percent of the estimated 520,000 residents in Newfoundland and Labrador live in local service districts with a limited number of municipal leaders, or unincorporated areas, which have no municipal officials. In these areas, residents pay for specific services they want, like garbage collection.
“We have to pay a garbage fee, and that is, I think it’s $200 a year now, to have our garbage picked up every week,” said Joyce Morgan, who lives in the unincorporated area of Port de Grave. …