By Pepper Parr
February 17th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
The pandemic hurt everyone – and the province realized that relief was needed everywhere it was possible to provide some relief.
In 2020, the province-wide property assessment update was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The assessed value of your property was kept at the 2020 value – bit of a break on your tax bill
As part of the Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review on November 4, 2021, the Province announced its decision to again postpone the assessment update. Property assessments for the 2023 property tax year continue to be based on January 1, 2016 assessed values.
No announcement has been made about when the next property assessment update will take place.
MPAC – Municipal Property Assessment Corporation continues to maintain an inventory of all properties and account for changes that happen each year in every property sector, across the province.
The ongoing postponement does not change the work we do to maintain the extensive property database and annual assessment rolls.
Keep in mind how the assessment game works. The actual assessment is not that important. What is important is how much the assessment has changed (as a percentage) in comparison to the change in assessments (again as a percentage) in your community. If your assessment has risen more than the average in the community, your taxes will rise; of course, if it rises less, your taxes may fall.
At one time when MPAC started sending how these re-assessments some 20 years ago, the average % increase used to be available on the re-assessment form in the bottom right hand corner. But then it disappeared (so much for transparency by MPAC); you now have to contact City Hall to find out that information.
And here’s what else you need to know. If you live in a newer, more homogeneous neighbourhood, MPAC’s reassessments will be likely quite accurate relative to your neighbours. However, if you live in an older neighbourhood, such as in South Burlington, where the neighbourhoods are not homogeneous, better start doing some research. With the amount of upgrading/redevelopment in the south, chances are the value of your home is skewed inaccurately upward. Better challenge that re-assessment.