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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: |
2004-Nov-22 |
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SUBJECT: |
Cancellation,
Reduction or Refund of Taxes under Sections 357 and 358 of the Municipal Act
, 2001 |
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
THAT residential taxes totalling $126,428.87 be
adjusted under Section 357 (in the amount of
$85,518.14) and Section 358 (in the amount of $40,910.73) of the Municipal Act, 2001
of which the Town’s portion is estimated to be $27,306.75.
AND THAT the associated interest be cancelled
in proportion to the tax adjustments;
AND THAT the Treasurer be directed to adjust
the Collector’s Roll.
PURPOSE:
The
purpose of this report is to authorize the Treasurer to adjust the Collector’s
Roll under Sections 357 and 358 of the Municipal Act, 2001.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Applications
have been received from property owners to adjust property taxes under Sections
357 and 358 of the Municipal Act, 2001 for the years specified on the
attached schedules.
BACKGROUND:
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 application for tax adjustment by
property owners who are overcharged by reason of any gross or manifest error in
the preparation of the assessment roll 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.
There
are two schedules attached. The only difference between them is that the first
relates to rateable properties and the second relates to exempt properties that
are eligible for a Payment in lieu (PIL) and owned by a government body. Both 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 three main reasons for these applications: (1)
“Razed, Demolished” which relates to the demolition of a building on a property
that reduced the tax burden; (2) “Became Exempt” which are properties that were
assessed on the assessment roll as taxable but became exempt during the year:
these properties 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); and, (3) “Overcharged By Error” that are the result of
errors by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) on the
assessment roll which caused an overcharge of taxes.
Schedule
1 includes 67 applications for the adjustment of taxes. All applications have been reviewed and
approved by the staff of the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC)
as required by the Municipal Act, 2001. Schedule 2 includes 17
applications for adjustment of PIL properties.
Schedule 1(Rateable) Schedule 2 (PILS) Total
Town
$ 16,401.24 $ 10,905.51 $ 27,306.75
Region $
31,397.40 $
10,929.77 $
42,327.17
Education $
26,727.16 $
30,067.79 $
56,794.95
FINANCIAL
CONSIDERATIONS:
The
amount of taxes adjusted for each of the Region and School Boards will be
reflected on the 2004 payment submissions to these bodies.
The Town of
ATTACHMENTS:
Schedule
1 “Tax Adjustments under the Municipal Act”
Schedule
2 “Tax Adjustments under the Municipal Act –PIL”
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Paul Wealleans, Director, Taxation |
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Andy Taylor, Commissioner of Corporate
Services |
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Barb Cribbett, Treasurer
Q:\Finance
and Administration\Finance\SHARED\2004 Finance_Admin Cttee Reports\0475
Cancellation or Refund of Taxes under
S357.doc
