By now you should have received your latest Property Tax assessments notice from MPAC (Municipal Property Assessment Corporation) for 2016. It is an assessment from which the city will calculate what your property tax amount will be for the year and the next 4 years. The MPAC assess properties according “to the Assessment Act and regulations established by the Ontario government”. They assess the value of your home and based on that value, the municipality determines the appropriate property tax.
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The value of a home is primarily determined by the sales in a given area. They also look at property information like “land title documents, building permits, on site property inspections,” along with many other factors. The factors that make up a majority of a homes’ value is “the location, the lot dimension, the living area, the age of the structure and the quality of the constriction”.
Surprisingly, property taxes in Toronto and Mississauga are extremely low in comparison to other nearby towns and cities. The author of Torontorealtyblog.com found that out of 25 municipalities close to Mississauga and Toronto, Mississauga had the 8th lowest property tax rate and Toronto had the lowest tax rate of all the towns and cities. It seems illogical that property taxes are so low in Toronto, the biggest city in Ontario, and in Mississauga, a very much developing city. Since property taxes pay for municipal services like “waste management, parks, police/fire protection, libraries, schools roads, sidewalks and public transit,” then shouldn’t property taxes be on the higher end of the spectrum in cities that use these services the most? Shouldn’t we be paying more in property tax so that our cities’ infrastructure grows and so that the quality of these services is preserved? Would it be so bad than if the property tax somewhat increased?
No one likes to pay taxes or listen to politicians talk about an increase in taxes, it’s simply no walk in the park. But it seems that this is a progressive tax, since it will help better the quality of services that we so often use and rely on. It’s also progressive because it is a major source of funding for education. Having more well educated individuals will ultimately bring in more wealth to cities, further proving that this is a progressive rather than a regressive tax.
Whenever there is a property tax reassessment people get scared and think their property tax will increase by a lot. In reality, the amount you are taxed will only increase by a large amount if the value of your home increased and the value of other homes in that same area remained the same.
[two]This is very unlikely to happen, because homes in the same or in similar areas are generally similar in value. If however you feel that you are not being taxed the right amount, you can send a “Request for Reconsideration” and they may reassess your property and come up with a new lower property tax. I can help you submit a Request for Reconsideration to MPAC by providing you with a list of recent comparable that support our claim of a lower value.
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Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or if you would like my help determining the value of your home!
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