Greater Sudbury Northern Life Reporter Bill Bradley
Greater Sudbury property owners will get some good news and bad news this week when they check their mailbox.
Ontario's Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is mailing out 61,000 notices of local properties' new assessed value this week in Greater Sudbury. The non-profit corporation is responsible for administering a uniform, province-wide property assessment system based on current values.
First the good news.
Greater Sudbury has lead the province, apart from a few enclaves, in terms of increasing property values, said Carl Isenburg, president and chief administrative officer of MPAC.
“Greater Sudbury has the fastest increase in residential property values in Ontario, on average up 54.95 per cent since the assessment in 2005,” Isenburg told Greater Sudbury city council Wednesday.
“This compares to a 33 per cent increase for North Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, 30 per cent for Timmins and 20 to 22 per cent increase for the Greater Toronto Area and 22 per cent for Hamilton,” he said.
Isenburg said he was surprised at the local statistics.
“This is a dramatic change. This is due to the robust economy here and puts Greater Sudbury in a unique situation compared to the rest of the province,” he said.
Within the residential sector, those properties on waterfront have increased more, on average 64 per cent, said Isenburg.
“Waterfront properties are still considered valuable and are holding and increasing their value across the province.”
Now the bad news.
If a property owner's increase in assessment is above the municipal average, or 54.9 per cent, the owner is subject to paying more taxes next spring, said Isenburg.
Waterfront assessments over the 64 per cent city average also will see higher taxes.
The homeowner can check if that is the case by referring to the assessment form mailed them and looking at the bottom right hand corner and comparing the per cent increase with that of the city.
If the increase is above that of the city's increase, then expect a higher tax bill next year and the following three years.
Statistics supplied by MPAC and the City of Greater Sudbury indicate 15 to 20 per cent of local properties are above the city average. That means these 15,364 properties can expect to pay higher property taxes. Worse, there are another 20 per cent, 4,558 properties, that are 20 per cent above the city average.
On the other hand, there are 7,311 properties that are below the city average. They can expect to pay less taxes.
In total, 30,367 properties are above the city average. They pay more. But, there are 25,105 properties below the city average. They will pay less property taxes.
The problem is that the tax hikes may hit some vulnerable groups hard, said Ward 1 Coun. Joe Cimino.
“I represent a ward where there are many retired seniors in the West End and Gatchell. For example, I know one person bought a house in Gatchell for $46,000 a few years ago. House prices in Gatchell have gone through the roof. This homeowner can barely afford the taxes now. How can this person afford the new tax rate since I expect the change in assessment to be far above the city average?” said Cimino.
Cimino said the whole assessment process was nonsense.
“Why can't we move to a system like in Europe where people see an increase in assessment only when they sell their properties. That way, when you buy a property, you know what to expect in the taxes you will be paying over time. We can also play around with the municipal mill rate if more revenue is required. This assessment process is completely unfair,” said Cimino.
Cimino had not seen his property assessment yet.
“I expect mine (in Moonglo) to be outrageous. If it is I plan on contesting it,” he said.
However, new this year for MPAC, is that to ask for a Request for Reconsideration (RfR), there is a deadline of March 31 of the current taxation year.
“The RfR process is a mandatory first stage of the assessment appeal process for residential, farm and managed forest properties,” said Isenburg.
New also is reverse onus of proof for appeals. MPAC has to prove that the value is accurate and equitable with other values in the housing class and location.
Isenburg said homeowners need to check the information on their form to determine if MPAC has the correct information.
For more information, call MPAC at 1-866-296-6722, visit 1730 Regent St, Suite 1 or visit www.mpac.ca. Hours at the Sudbury office will be extended from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday through Dec. 5 to respond to local taxpayers' questions.
