WRAFT REPORT Fall 2005, Issue 4
From the Executive Director
Your 2005 assessment and what it means
A three-ring circus
WRAFT Annual Meeting
What can you do to help?
From the Executive Director
It's hard to believe summer is coming to an end, although many say September is the best time at the cottage. It's quieter, the weather is great, of course no bugs, and the lake actually started warming up in the middle of the month.
I wish I could say that the response we are getting at Queens Park was also warming up. I can tell you that we're getting a good hearing but as yet we see little evidence of progress towards a new and more equitable system for distributing property taxes. Here's what's been happening since mid-July when we sent out our last WRAFT Report.
- Our membership is growing daily. At time of writing we are at 175 member associations representing 30,000 property owners and an estimated 100,000 Ontario voters.
- Individual members of our member associations have sent close to 500 letters and emails to their MPPs and sent us copies. Initially most of these communications were coming from Muskoka but they're now coming in from waterfront residents across the province. If you are concerned about your taxes and if you haven't yet written to your MPP please do so now and send WRAFT a copy. Directions for writing are posted on our website under Call to Action in the News section. We have also recently posted some quotes from a number of the more compelling letters on our website.
- We continue to meet with Liberal MPPs to ensure that they understand our concerns about the present property tax system. A month ago we met with Finance Minister Sorbara. He gave us a good one hour hearing and gained a better understanding of the inequities brought about by the rigid use of a pure assessment-based approach for distributing property taxes. Clearly though we have a long way to go. We are battling against the entrenched position of his bureaucrats that the present CVA system for distributing taxes is the fairest one. We have also recently met with Wayne Arthurs, MPP and Parliamentary Assistant to Mr. Sorbara, who now has the property tax portfolio. Mr. Arthurs replaces Mike Colle who was promoted to Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
- We have had a good reception in meetings with a number of Progressive Conservative MPPs, many of whom have large numbers of waterfront property owners in their ridings. We hope to meet shortly with Mr. Tory as well as with the Tory caucus.
- Our radio and newspaper ads appeared over the past few months and have generated considerable interest in the property tax issue as well as contributed to our growth in membership.
- Over the summer, WRAFT Directors spoke at a number of member's association annual meetings. Communication with members is a two-way street. We tell our story and get a lot of useful input from individual members.
- Many areas in Ontario are experiencing the same shift of tax and the same volatility as waterfront property owners. We are working to identify potential allies, both municipalities and ratepayer groups, who would work with us to achieve a more stable property tax regime. As an example we have initiated discussions with the Municipality of Niagara on the Lake where rising property values have caused a growing share of regional costs to be transferred to the municipality.
- We continue to argue for deferral or at least modification of the impact on your 2006 taxes of the 2005 assessment. If we are not successful, it will clearly shift more tax onto waterfront properties next year.
Your 2005 assessment and what it means
MPAC is sending 2005 assessment notices to property owners over the period from mid-September to mid-November. They reflect the assessed value of your property at January 1, 2005. You received your last assessment notice in late 2004, and it represented the value of your property as of mid-2003. To understand the potential impact of the assessment on your 2006 taxes your need to first calculate the percentage increase in your assessment from the previous assessment.
- For the education portion of your taxes you compare your percentage increase with the average provincial residential increase
- For the municipal portion you compare your percentage increase with the average municipal increase.
Here's an example: Let's assume your assessment increased from $200,000 to $250,000, an increase of $50,000 or 25%. Let's also assume that the provincial average increase is 10%, and the municipal average increase is 13%. In 2005, your taxes were $2,000 and the education portion was 40% or $800. The municipal portion was $1200 or 60%.
Calculation of tax increase:
| Education portion | $800 times 125/110 | = $909 |
| Municipal portion | $1200 times 125/113 | = $1327 |
| Total: | $2236 | |
| % increase in 2006 taxes $236/$2000: | = 11.8% | |
The information you need to do these calculations will be shown in part on your assessment notice and in part by going to the MPAC website.
This is an approximate calculation of the impact on your taxes of the assessment increase alone. It assumes no change in municipal or education spending supported by property taxes. In other words, the municipality should lower its tax rate to offset the higher overall assessment. If they do not because they plan to spend more money, then your total tax increase will be even greater.
Assessment notices have already been sent to some parts of the province and confirm that waterfront property assessments are in fact rising at a much faster rate than other residential property. Some waterfront areas are up 30 to 40% compared to 15% which appears typical for urban areas where numbers are available.
A three-ring circus
Who's to blame for your tax increase? If it's due to your assessment rising faster than the average, as described above:
Is the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) to blame? No. They simply perform assessments and if you believe you're over-assessed there's a process of appeal you can follow.
Is the municipality to blame? No. Keep an eye on their spending, but don't hold your local council responsible if you have to pick up a bigger share of the tax bill.
Guess what. The Province of Ontario is responsible because it sets the rules of the game. That's where we're expending all our efforts. If you get an answer to your letter to your MPP and it suggests you go to the municipality for help, the Province is just passing the buck. If they give you the standard answer about how assessments are done and refer you to MPAC, again they're not giving you the straight goods. We know where the buck stops.
WRAFT Annual Meeting
Our Annual Meeting is scheduled for November 5 from 2.30 to 5 p.m at the York Reception Centre, 1100 Millwood Rd., Toronto. It will be held in conjunction with the FOCA annual meeting which will be in the morning. As well as a full report to you on our progress, we are allowing an extensive period for questions and discussion. Representatives of all WRAFT member associations are invited to attend.
What can you do to help?
- Write your MPP; 500 letters from 40,000 property owners is clearly not enough.
- Be sure your association is represented at our Annual Meeting on November 5.
- If you can suggest any action which we've overlooked and may help to influence the Queen's Park decision makers, email us at wraft@sympatico.ca.
- Keep up to date by checking our website - www.wraft.com.
WATERFRONT RATEPAYERS AFTER FAIR TAXATION (WRAFT) is a coalition of waterfront associations across Ontario. It was formed to lobby for a more equitable property tax regime and for a halt to the ongoing shift of tax onto waterfront properties.
Contact
Bob Topp, Executive Director
131 Bloor St. W. Suite 200
Box 263
Toronto, ON M5S 1R8
Email: wraft@sympatico.ca
Website: www.wraft.com