It appears Wellington County has come out a winner in its disagreement with the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).
That body sets assessments and it decided the former Wellington Terrace in Elora should be in a multi-residential tax class. Treasurer Craig Dyer told councillors the county and Centre Wellington Township opposed that category, which is subject to twice the taxes of a regular residential rate.
The county owns the building and leased it to the Heritage River Retirement Community Corporation since 2006. That company will take ownership of the building next July.
Dyer said most retirement homes in Ontario are taxable at a residential rate, and, if placed in a multi-residential category, Heritage River would “be at a disadvantage relative to comparable properties.”
County staff attended a Centre Wellington council meeting in January in support of the township’s move to approve an application to reduce the taxes on the property for the years 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.
Dyer said the county subsequently received a property tax refund of $163,415, but that did not grant MPAC the authority to revise the tax rolls. MPAC argued an issue it considered to be important was currently at the assessment review board tribunal and it would maintain its multi-residential assessment until the tribunal issued its decision. The central issue was if units in the building are considered to be self-contained.
Dryer said the tribunal ruled in July and overturned MPAC’s multi-residential classification and directed retirement homes of that nature be placed in the residential tax class.
That caused MPAC to review the classification of all retirement homes in the province and Dyer reported a reclassification of the old Wellington Terrace property will be done retroactive to 2008 with corrections being made in time for the 2012 tax roll return.
Dyer said in his report “It is assumed that the overall valuation will increase slightly while the actual tax liability will be in line with comparable properties.
He said county and township staff will “maintain close contact with the assessor to ensure all valuations and revised tax billings/credits are correct and accurately applied.”
Both staffs expect the work done when they start preparing their respective budgets.
Dyer said, “On a final note, it is apparent that the council for the Township of Centre Wellington was prudent in its decision to approve the tax reduction applications.”
In other News, MPAC is expected to mail up to a million property assessments to homeowners in the coming months.
“MPAC is responsible for updating the assessment information in its database on an ongoing basis,” said Carl Isenburg, president and chief administrative officer.
“If there have been any changes to a property, we mail a Property Assessment Notice reflecting those changes to the owner of the property,” said Isenburg.
Property taxpayers will receive a Notice from MPAC if there has been:
– a change to property ownership, legal description, or school support;
– a change to a property’s assessment resulting from a request for reconsideration or assessment review board decision;
– a property value increase or decrease reflecting a change to the property, for example, a new structure, addition, or removal of an old structure; or,
– a change in the classification or tax liability of the property.
Property owners who receive a notice have until April 2 to ask MPAC to reconsider their assessment. That is done at no charge. Details on how to file a request for reconsideration are included with every notice mailed.
