`
_files/image002.jpg)
Report to: General Committee Report
Date: February 23, 2011
SUBJECT: March 2011 - Cancellation, Reduction
or Refund of Taxes under Sections 357 and
358 of the Municipal Act, 2001
PREPARED BY: Paul Wealleans, Director, Taxation
RECOMMENDATIONS:
THAT taxes totalling approximately $455,034.85
be adjusted under Section 357 (in the amount of $374,372.15) and Section 358
(in the amount of $80,662.70) of the Municipal Act, 2001 of which the
Town’s portion is estimated to be $98,506.28.
AND THAT the Treasurer be directed
to adjust the Collector’s Roll accordingly;
AND THAT staff be authorized and
directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.
Sections 357
and 358 of the Municipal Act, 2001 allow for the reduction, cancellation
or refund of taxes. Section 357
permits tax adjustments for the
following reasons:
·
if a property or portion of a
property is eligible to be reclassified in a different class of property, and
that class has a lower tax ratio for
the taxation year than the class the
property or portion of the property was in before the change, and if no
supplementary assessment is made in respect of the change under subsection
34(2) of the Assessment Act;
·
property that has become vacant
land or excess land during the year;
·
property that has become exempt
from taxation during the year;
·
building that during the year
was razed by fire, Demolition or otherwise, or was damaged by fire, Demolition
or otherwise so as to render it substantially unusable for the purposes for
which it was used immediately prior to the damage;
·
person who was unable to pay taxes because of sickness or extreme poverty;
·
mobile unit that was removed
from the municipality during the year;
·
property overcharged by reason
of any gross or manifest error that is a clerical error, the transposition of
figures, a typographical error or similar type of error, but not an error in
judgment in making the assessment
upon which the taxes have been
levied; or
·
in respect of a property which
by reason of repairs or renovations could not be used for its normal use for a
period of at least three months during the year.
Section 358 of Municipal Act, 2001 permits applications for tax adjustment by property owners who are
overcharged by reason of any gross or manifest error in the preparation of the
assessment roll by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) that
was an error of fact, which may include but is not limited to, clerical errors,
the transposition of figure or typographical errors, but not an error in
judgment in making the assessment
upon which the taxes have been
levied. These applications relate to taxes
levied in each or either of the two years preceding the year in which the
application is made.
OPTIONS /DISCUSSION:
The attached schedules identify the
year of taxation, the assessment
roll number of each property, the reason for the tax
appeal and the tax adjustment. The tax value includes the Town, Region and School Board
share of taxes. There are four main
reasons for these applications: (1) “Razed or Demolished” which relates
to the demolition of a building on a property that reduced the tax burden. All such applications include a Town Demolition
Permit; (2) “Became Exempt”- these are properties that were assessed on
the assessment roll as taxable but
became exempt during the year. They are properties that either were transferred
during the year from a taxable owner
to the Town and therefore became exempt from tax
(generally lands as part of subdivision agreements) or lands purchased by a
school board and became exempt; (3) “Gross or Manifest Error” is the
result of errors by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) on the
assessment roll which caused an overcharge of taxes,
(4) “Classification
Correction” is where the property or a portion
of the property was eligible to be reclassified in a different class of real
property. For example, an industrial property class changed to commercial.
There are 16 applications listed
that have no associated tax
adjustment. These are applications reviewed by MPAC and determined to be not
eligible for relief.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
The Town of Markham’s portion of
taxes for the taxation years 2007 through 2010 is estimated to be $98,506.28. The
amount of taxes adjusted for both
the Region of York and School Boards will be reflected on the 2011 payment
submissions to these bodies.
|
Tax Adjustments under Section 357 /358 of the Municipal Act
|
|
Town
|
$98,506.28
|
|
Region
|
$188,955.49
|
|
Education
|
$167,573.07
|
|
Total
|
$ 455,034.85
|
Sufficient funds
are available in the Tax Write off Account No. 850 850 7051.
HUMAN RESOURCES CONSIDERATIONS:
Not applicable
ALINMENT WITH STATEGIC PRIORITIES:
Not applicable
BUISNESS UNIT
CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
None
_files/image004.gif)
_files/image006.gif)