While every home owner in Toronto is sure to enjoy the dramatically rising house prices they are currently experiencing there is one downside to those ever increasing prices and that will be recognized very soon with the new property tax assessment warnings that will be landing in every home in the coming weeks if they haven’t already.
The Municipal Property Tax Assessment Corporation has recently sent out notices of the newest property tax assessment to Toronto home owners indicating what their property tax will be for the 4 year period of 2016-2020. The amount levied is calculated by the amount of the homes that have sold in your area in the years prior to the new assessment and as all Toronto home owners are already aware the average home price in Toronto has risen stratospherically in the past few years. The amount on the newest assessment will show you exactly how much that tax rate has changed since 2012 and will most likely bring “sticker shock” to many in Toronto.
While most will be shocked at the new rates, they will most likely just buckle down and accept the fact that home prices have risen substantially and that the new tax rate is a consequence of that and go about their business. For others however the amount may reflect a distorted view of the area and/or the actual costs of a home in their area and may want to seek out a re-assessment based on information that they felt was ignored or not presented.
If you fall into this category and would like to appeal the amount you have been assessed there is mechanism for doing so. You can simply contact the Municipal Assessment Office and have a reconsideration done at absolutely no expense to yourself. Should the re-assessment not to be to your favor and you still feel that the amount is not in line with the neighborhood you can file a formal appeal of the assessment amount through the same governing body only it will cost you $125.
There are a variety of factors that are used to assess value of a home for the purposes of property tax other than simply the selling price of local homes. The value is calculated using over 200 factors with the bulk of the weighting being attributed to five factors. They are the location of the home, the age, lot size and quality of construction.
If you feel that you assessment is not in line with those around you then by all means contact MPAC and have a re-assessment done, you have little to lose and a whole lot to potentially gain.
