Homeowners band together to fight increased property taxes
While New Westminster, B.C.'s residential property assessments went up by more than 9 per cent overall, some homeowners have been hit with a much higher increase.
James Crosty, a local citizen advocate, saw the assessed value of his condo increase by a whopping 52 per cent, prompting him to reach out to neighbours and band together to appeal their assessments.
You might want to do the same.
Keep in mind that it's one thing to explode over an unexpected jump in your bill and quite another to crawl through the labyrinth of assessment procedures -- most of which vary sharply among provinces, and even from city to city.
Whether you decide to cry solo or enlist an advocate's help, the process is essentially the same: Establish that you really have been over assessed, file a grievance, argue your case before the local assessment board and, if you're still feeling put upon, launch an appeal before some sort of tribunal.
How much information is available varies depending on the jurisdiction, but in general, residents of large metropolitan areas — and residents anywhere in Ontario — have access to municipal databases that reveal a wealth of historic sale prices and current assessment values.
In Toronto, for example, homeowners can go to the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation website and scroll over an interactive map, which provides information on 200 nearby properties.
Once you’ve marshalled your facts, you pay $75 for a formal hearing about the reassessment. Before that happens though, you're encouraged to contact the MPAC and try to resolve things more informally.
Deadlines, along with the appeals process, will vary across the country – in Ontario, for instance, it's March 31 -- and so does the amount of time permitted for an appeal.
Do you plan on questioning your property assessment? Do you know anyone who has?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: GHAMMELL | Feb 4, 2022 3:06:33 AM
Rising property assessments doesn't mean cetain rise in poperty taxes.--Be gratefull your equity is probably worth more than last year.
Posted by: Homeowner/Builder | Feb 4, 2022 3:26:58 AM
I have appealed my assessments on two separate occasions and been successful on two challenges over two separate years.
Appeal #1:
We purchased a building lot in a new subdivision, as did several others, with the intent of building not immediately, but within the next few years. When our assessment arrived, there was an improvement value of $15,000 on the notice on not only our assessment but also on several other purchasers. The only problem was that there was no improvement on the lot. When we challenged the assessor, we learned that the value was based on the assumption that construction would commence within the next few months and the value was that of a typical foundation. We won the appeal, along with 4 other lot owners.
Appeal #2:
Same property; different year; different assessor. This year, the house was under construction but not finished. The partial assessment appeared too high and, once again, was appealed. The assessor based her valuation and, according to her notes, non one was on site during her inspection, but noted that upon looking through the ground floor windows that both the plumbing and electrical had been completed.
Upon questioning, she admitted that she admitted that she had not seen any plumbing stacks through the roof; nor had she noted the Hydro meter had not yet been installed; nor had she checked to see if any plumbing or electrical permits or subsequent inspections occurred. In reality, neither the plumbing nor electrical had been started or permits obtained.
In addition, she failed to adequately explain how she managed to see what had been completed through the ground floor windows. There had been a B & E during construction a few months earlier and, at the suggestion of the RCMP, we had tacked black poly over all the ground floor windows. In fact, she couldn't see anything. The conclusion? Our assessment was reduced by $55,000.
If your assessment seems high, it may be worthwhile to appeal. It certainly was for us.
Posted by: Quarmby | Feb 4, 2022 1:11:55 PM
It is every Canadians right to appeal a property assessment, most of which are successful if triggered by logic and reason on the appellants' part. I do however, think that all costs should be reimbursed to the property owner upon completion of a successful appeal and the assessor be held accountable if consistently overturned. What most people fail to consider, is the costs that the bureaucratic enterprise add to housing. A good example (albeit little to do with assessment) is that of a friend of mine who was applying to Duplex his home in Kamloops. The home (6,000 square feet) was constructed in 1998 as a sixplex and designed to be severed at a later date. So, to put an imaginary line through an existing structure (of 13 years) it has taken 18 months and counting and cost...well here's his latest email to me:
ALC a#@*oles still haven't opened the file which has been sitting on their desks in Victoria since Nov 9/10. Unable to complete our subdivision application we continue to carry interest debt which should have been wiped out a year ago. Estimated cost of the red tape to this point is, 18 months at $76,000 carrying charges to lenders/creditors. Does not include actual cost of consultants and architecturally inspired costs of $24,000.
All this because he insists on "playing by the rules". I suggested another way to accomplish this (rather a grey area) without any permissions required, but he insisted on doing things honorably and "by the book". Sometimes it pays to just walk the fine line, instead of catering to the egomaniacal whims of the unelected mandarins....whose salaries WE PAY!
Posted by: william | Feb 4, 2022 3:25:09 PM
Any of u live in BC? If you are, I can teach u a strategy to use the property tax u are currently paying the government to set up an insurance program which will benefit u and your family.
send me an email williamchen1971@gmail.com
Posted by: Quarmby | Feb 5, 2022 10:15:29 AM
Thursday evening CTV ran a 20 second segment predicting an average 25% drop in realestate values by Q3 2011 (the waterskiing dog got 3 minutes?), which I percieve as conservative in some regions. Anyway, my question is... do you think that the local government parasites will adjust the property assesments downward as quickly as they do up, to be fair? My bet is that it will take citizens protesting in the streets to see that...and then they'll just up the mill rate in order to maintain their wasteful ways and pitiful exsistence on the taxpayers' teet.
Posted by: Willi Duengen | Feb 5, 2022 10:04:55 PM
Please take my name and Email address of this "Post a comment " page .
Thanks Willi
Posted by: peter | Feb 6, 2022 11:04:34 AM
They raise the taxes because their expenses has gone up. In my town, they now need more buildings to house the increased staff, and they make big money, and buy big houses which drags the prices of smaller houses up, and subsequently drive the taxes up based on the price of the house. So, eventually you have to sell and move out of the city as your income is fixed and then you can't afford it. There is no end to it, but you can't move because you are getting old and not quite healthy anymore and you need to be close to the hospital. The solutions are to either decrease the stagg or stop the increase in taxes after you have owned the property so long or attained a certain age or a conbination of the 2. That would be fair.
Posted by: ontarion | Feb 6, 2022 12:19:20 PM
ghammell comment must be the brigtish one of um all. the assesment goes up but the taxes may stay the same. o boy i almost fell for that one. David ramsay sold northern ontario out just to make sure his pension is safe.
Posted by: OffShore | Feb 7, 2022 6:35:39 AM
7. Wow! You are definitely a magician. I have always liked to know others feelings and thoughts, but I must say your article is one of the best I have read. And I suggest others to read it. OffShore
Posted by: robert st-onge | May 24, 2021 7:17:28 PM
I don't live or summer on the bay of lakes I live in a small town of 5,500 in northern Ontario a town with a grandious view of itself.It's being run like everybody works for the government or the paper mill (which I am always told we are subsidizing because the mill has had reductions of there assessment) both, gov. employees and the mill's have retierment plans and better than average wages. Mybe the town could stop wasting our tax$$ My girlfriend and I have worked hard and saved our money to build a 1500 sqf house on a lot with no services and we pay the same tax rate as the people with mansions on the golf course,waterfront, and with all the services and infrastructure ;sidewalks paved streets etc.. in fact we are paying probably one of the highest tax rates in ontario we're paying just under 6000$ on a 200000 assessment this town is a joke !! welcome to ESPANOLA Ontario where they'd tax you for the stink if they could put a meter on it!!!!!!