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TO: |
Mayor and Members of Council |
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FROM: |
Barb
Cribbett, Treasurer |
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PREPARED BY: |
Paul
Wealleans, Director, Taxation |
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DATE OF MEETING: |
2005-Feb-28 |
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SUBJECT: |
Assessment
Summary 2004 |
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RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the report
dated
PURPOSE:
This report provides a summary of property assessment
activities in
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This report provides information on assessment related
activities in
BACKGROUND:
Revenue generated from property assessment is the
single largest revenue source for the Town of
OPTIONS/DISCUSSIONS:
Supplementary assessment
The Town continues to experience growth, especially in
the residential sector which translates into assessment growth and increased
tax revenues. MPAC provides in-year supplementary assessment rolls to
municipalities that capture new construction and major alterations to
properties.
In 2004, the Town received approximately $1.3 billion
in supplementary assessment, which translated into a 5.6% growth return for
2005. The significant growth for 2005 equates to $4.3 million in tax revenue
for the Town.
Assessment Base Enhancement
The increased assessment growth in 2004 is attributed
to initiatives and improvements to our business processes, undertaken by MPAC
and the Towns Assessment Department to enhance the overall size and health of
the Towns assessment base.
This enabled the Town to receive all of the revenue to
which it is legitimately entitled too, and that taxpayers are being fairly
assessed and taxed. These efforts helped safeguard
Building Permit Monitoring:
It is not uncommon for additional assessment that may
be realized through the building permit process to be omitted from the
assessment roll. When this occurs, the ability to tax may be lost completely
for a period of time and/or the municipality does not receive revenue that it
is legitimately entitled on a timely basis. To safeguard against this, staff
now track building permits from their date of issue, and follow-up with MPAC
where necessary, to ensure that additional assessments are quickly added to the
collector's roll.
As an example, staff audited all 2003 Building
Permits, which resulted in $21 million in supplementary assessment, with
approximately a $272,000 in tax revenue. Another benefit of this practice is
that it provides greater tax certainty for the ratepayer when they receive a
more accurate and prompt tax bill.
The Town now provides building permit information
electronically to MPAC on a monthly basis. The provision and timeliness of this
information allows MPAC to update its records regularly and ensure that new
structures can be monitored, inspected and valued for supplementary
assessments.
Land
Development Monitoring - Subdivisions:
At different stages in the development process leading
to the registration of subdivision lands, the assessment values assigned to
these types of properties and their tax classification status should change. It
is important to be aware of the timing of these because inaccuracies at
year-end when the assessment roll is returned will translate into lost tax
revenue. Staff now monitors all subdivision lands throughout the registration
process to ensure that they are appropriately classified and assessed at roll
return. This assessment review exercise maximizes the amount of tax revenue
available from this portion of the assessment base.
Land
Development Monitoring – Zoning Changes:
Amendments to zoning bylaws, regulations, and
Committee of Adjustment decisions may significantly affect property valuations.
Staff monitor these changes, and validates that the assessment levels of
affected properties reflect the value of their new zoning designations.
The Town now provides Land Development information to
MPAC on a quarterly basis. The provision and timeliness of this information
allows MPAC to change and ensure the valuation of the lands reflects the zoning
and / or development stage it holds.
This process has added an estimated $146 million in
additional assessment in 2004.
Property Assessment Review
Property owners have two options for resolving
property assessment concerns. They are:
Assessment Review Board complaints are the formal
route to settle assessment complaints for which a $75 fee is required for
residential appeals, and $150 for Non-Residential appeals. These are fees
levied and collected by the Ministry of the Attorney General under whose
jurisdiction the ARB falls. The deadline to file an appeal to the ARB is March
31st of the tax year under appeal.
In 2004, there were 1,503 ARB appeals filed on
Requests for Reconsideration are an informal method
for property owners who disagree with the current value assessment or
classification of their property. Owners may ask MPAC to conduct a review of
their assessment through the Request for Reconsideration process. There is no
charge for requesting reconsideration. The request can be filed up to December
31 of the taxation year for which the assessment applies.
In 2004, there were 2,927 reconsideration requests to
MPAC by
The total tax impact in 2004 for both assessment
review processes was approximately $400,000 for the Town of
The Town of
MPAC
MPAC provides responses to inquiries from
Municipal Connect
Municipal Connect is an internet based application
which provides municipalities with real-time access to assessment information.
Municipal staff has the ability to select, query all assessment data including
aggregate totals by class or type as well as property specific inquiries.
Standard reports make up part of the information available. The ability to
download certain information also exists. One of the most significant benefits
is the assessment data is updated daily so that the information accessed is as
up to date as possible.
Re-inspection Program
In 2004, MPAC implemented a program to update and
verify assessment information on 315,000 properties across the Province,
including 7,900 properties in
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
ATTACHMENTS:
None
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Barb Cribbett, Treasurer |
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Andy Taylor, Commissioner, Corporate Services |
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Paul Wealleans, Director, Taxation |
Q:\Finance and Administration\Finance\SHARED\2005 General Committee
Finance\0505 Assessment Summary 2004.doc
