I would like to thank associate editor Tracey Duguay for her
positive coverage March 31 regarding council's decision to
allocate additional provincial transfer payments to a tax
reduction and to future road construction projects. I would,
however, like to clarify the impact on property taxes.
When council's reduction of the municipal tax rate is
combined with a reduction in the residential education tax
rate, the end result is a 2.8 percent property tax increase.
Here is an explanation of how this is possible. Council made
a decision to allocate close to $1.5 million in provincial
transfer payments to reduce the municipal tax rate by one
percent-down to a 4.2 percent increase.
At the same time, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation has undertaken a province-wide reassessment for the 2006 tax year. Under this reassessment, the City of Greater Sudbury's property valuation change is less than the provincial average. As a result, the city's share of the provincial residential education tax levy has been reduced.
Hence, reducing the overall property tax increase to 2.8
percent.
The City of Greater Sudbury recognizes the impact of the
recent provincial reassessment on individual properties. In
some cases, ratepayers will experience a tax increase greater
than the 2.8 percent if the valuation change from 2005 to 2006
on the property was greater than the municipal average. On the
other hand, for properties that experienced a valuation change
less than the municipal average, the property tax increase
would be less than 2.8 percent, and maybe less than their 2005
taxes.
We hope this clarifies council's recent decision for
readers.
Lorella Hayes
Chief Financial Officer
City Treasurer,
City of Greater Sudbury