ASSESSMENT AND ACTION

Future TAXES and ASSESSMENTS

Property Assessment for 2011

Assessments for the current year are now available under the Members Tab.

You may recall that 75% of the increase in the four-year cycle has now been applied with the full increase scheduled for 2012. The latter date also marks the beginning of preparations for the next four-year cycle.
The 'culture of entitlement', already identified in the Ontario government's Health Ministry and Lottery and Gaming Corporation, has also crept into the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation based on the recent report by the Auditor General of Ontario (AG). This is not a new occurrence as the same inappropriate practices - untendered contracts, unauthorized extensions of contracts, questionable expense accounts - were identified by the Ontario Ombudsman in his scathing report in 2006. In the wake of that earlier report, MPAC promised that it could and would correct errors. In fact, they purported to be the only body with the knowledge and skills to fulfill such a role. Thus, no major changes were made in the organization and methodology at MPAC in response to the Ombudsman's report.

What has happened since? Little appears to have changed. The recent review by the AG repeats the same litany of errors as did the Ombudsman in his earlier report. Most alarming were the huge mistakes made in one of every eight assessments of at least 20% when actual sales were matched with the assessments calculated by MPAC. Furthermore, MPAC officials did not even investigate these large discrepancies to check the validity of their own methodology. At the one-in-eight error rate quoted by the AG, there would be twenty-four properties with major errors among BICA members. Is your property among those? At the very least you are urged to check the accuracy of the details of your property.

Intrigued by the findings of the AG's report, we put the 'assessment to sales ratio' to test locally. Four recent Browning Island sales were available for the test and they revealed an average of 32% difference between the assessments and sale prices, much more than the AG's unacceptable level of 20%. On the sale of island cottages contents such as: furniture, boats etc. often are included in the sale price. Despite this tendency to inflate the sale prices, on average, MPAC over assessed these four properties.

Once again, Ken Selby and Bud Doyle have provided much help in bringing the assessment information to you.

Shirley McIntyre

Help is available from:
1. www.mpac.ca
2. MPAC at 1-800-296-MPAC (6722)
3. MPAC 1-866-297-6703 (fax)
4. MPAC, PO Box 9808, Toronto, ON M1S 5T9

You will probably want to request more detailed information about your own assessment and the set of comparable properties which MPAC used to determine your assessment. You should check all details and calculations for accuracy and request corrections. The RFR is your vehicle for requesting those changes. It also provides an opportunity for you to refute the assessment on additional grounds. Refer to the instructions which accompanied your notice of assessment for the procedure.

How can B.I.C.A. help you?

Armed with the 2010 assessments for Browning and surrounding islands, members can compare their own assessments with others in the same neighbourhood, and to select additional comparable properties for in-depth comparison (a maximum of 24 properties under the revised system) and to submit the paperwork before the filing deadline of March 31, 2009. Note that you must file an RFR before an appeal to the ARB will be considered.

References

Cottage Life magazine, October 2008 www.cottagelife.com
Article by Christine Langlois Fighting Your Cottage Property Assessment
Download the Document titled DEALING WITH AN INAPPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT published by WRAFT March 2010, under the MEMBERS tab, Assessment Assistance

Websites etc.
WRAFT www.wraft.com
CAPTR www.captr.org
Browning Island www.browningisland.com
Muskoka Lakes Association www.mla.on.ca or email info@mla.on.ca
FOCA www.foca.on.ca or email info@foca.on.ca

Assessment sources
MPAC head office www.mpac.ca or 1 866 297 6703
MPAC Muskoka Attention Donna Ridley
1 877 487-5448 ext230 or fax 705 645 1870

After perusing last year's assessment data, it is apparent that many property owners who appealed their assessments achieved reductions. Congratulations to each of you!

The appropriate forms are available from:

Request for Reconsideration ........www.mpac.ca
....................................................1-866-296-6722
....................................................PO Box 9808, Toronto, ON M1S 5T9

A.R.B. Assessment Appeal ..........www.arb.gov.on.ca
.....................................................1-800-263-3237
.....................................................655 Bay St., Toronto, ON M5G 2K4

B.I.C.A. also has a few reference materials to help you in preparing your RR or appeal. Included are characteristics of the various qualities of structures, a sample appeal submission. The 2010 assessments are available under the Members tab.

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