Your Assessment Notice May Have been In The Mail
If You Received One
There has been a change in the assessment of your property. In November 2009 the Municipal Property Assessment Corp (MPAC) began sending out assessment notices for the 2010 property tax year.
But I Did Not Get A Notice
Sorry ... Your Assessment will still be going up due to the 4 year phase in of the 2008 re-assessment.
Why Did I Get One
You would have received one if any of the following had occurred and MPAC is aware of the change:
the ownership of your property has changed or if for some reason the legal description has changed
the value has been changed due to an earlier appeal or request for reconsideration
there has been a change of school support
changes, additions or improvements as well as removal or destruction
Ask For A Reduction
Remember MPAC only makes changes to your assessment if they are aware of the changes to your property. If Fire or other damage has occurred and the home is no longer inhabitable contact your regional assessment office and request a reduction.
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Kathy Clulow Sales Representative RE/MAX All-Stars Realty Inc.. Brokerage 905.852.6143
Each office independently owned and operated Not intended to solicit clients already under contract
The government is generally not going to reduce the assessment if the homeowners do not challenge them.
It's good to empower people to step up and challenge their assessments if they feel they're not on par. And if they're not sure they should contact a Realtor to get an informed opinion! :-)
Renee - sometimes it's a real challenge and sometimes a simple conversation does the trick.
Liz - an informed taxpayer has a better chance of making a good case for a reduction.
Kathy - Sometimes, MPAC may decide to reclassify the property (or part of the property) into a different classification code if you start to appeal it. This might occur, for example, with various types of commercial or industrial properties. The process is not standardized across the province.
Kathy, I hope it works there if you're going to challange their assesment fee and it's good to get the word out. Here everyone does it so they just discount the entire Island (true!).
Marc - Several years ago Barrie had a lengthy discussion with an assessor over a property we owned that resulted in an entire subdivision being reclassified to a lower level. Not happy with that he followed up with appeals to the ARB and the OMB that resulted in further reductions to two entire subdivisions.
Carole - Despite the checks and cross checks built into it the system it is not perfect ... even though it is getting better ... the process is based on information that carries a certain amount of subjective opinion so there is plenty of room for error on individual properties, especially where there are few sales and a wide range of dissimiliar properties.