It’s assessment time again, so what will we expect in 2008? Keep an eye on your mailbox this fall. It is sure to include your assessment notice.

For many home and cottage owners it’s unlikely to be good news. The notice will reflect the assessed value of your property on Jan. 1, 2008 and the increase in value over the past three years. For most properties on waterfront, it’s likely the increase will be higher than average; that is higher than the municipal average, higher than the district average and higher than the provincial average. That means your taxes in 2009 will be higher due to your assessment. Over and above that, you will be hit with your share of any increase in municipal spending. Your actual tax increase will only be revealed when you receive the second instalment of your 2009 tax bill.

In the 2007 provincial budget, the government introduced major changes to the assessment/property tax regimen. From now on assessments will be carried out every four years and any increases will be phased in over the subsequent four-year period. This will apply to the upcoming assessment, as well as mean that your 2008 assessment increase will be phased in over the years 2008 to 2011. Assuming you will be faced with an assessment-related tax increase, it will be phased in over the four years, 2009 to 2012.

Do waterfront and urban property owners benefit from this four-year plan?

The Coalition After Property Tax Reform (CAPTR) and Waterfront Ratepayers After Fair Taxation (WRAFT) have been actively campaigning for a number of years for reforms to the property tax system. Basically we believe that the current system is too volatile and has been particularly hard on urban and waterfront home and cottage owners.

While we accept the principle that higher-value properties pay higher taxes, we have been consistently calling for limitations on annual assessment increases. Both opposition parties have included such reforms in their party platforms. But the government, which was re-elected last fall with another majority, has in our opinion failed to come up with reforms needed to provide stability and predictability for Ontario property owners. It is our view that the four-year phase-in is nothing more than an instalment plan for paying higher taxes. By assessing every four years the government is increasing the exposure of property owners to volatile real estate markets and inexact assessment methodology.

Where do we go from here?

CAPTR and WRAFT have set up a petition on their websites www.captr.org and www.wraft.com. We ask you to go to one of the websites and sign up. It only takes a minute. Tell your friends and neighbours to do likewise. While you are on the website, read the report we recently sent to our membership and learn what we’ve been doing and what’s planned for this summer and fall.

A study we commissioned on real estate trends clearly illustrates that most waterfront and inner city properties will be hit again this fall with higher than average assessment increases. When you get your assessments this fall, we’d be interested in hearing from you at wraft@sympatico.ca if you’ve been particularly hard hit. Let your MPP know as well.

If we hope to get the government to think again, we need to be ready to once again point out to all concerned the inequities in the present system. Unless we take strong action, there is no question that waterfront property owners as a group will continue to suffer the most from the present property tax regimen.

Bob Topp
Executive Director
WRAFT