MARKET VALUE ASSESSMENT … THE SILENT KILLER OF YOUR FAMILY COTTAGE
Now that restructuring of Simcoe County is all but a done deal, thanks to County Warden, Reeve Ross Hastings, taxpayers in Tiny could face the next money-gobbling tax hike due to market value assessment based on 1992 values. It could cost some families their cottages.
Yes sir, that’s what they want to do to the whole county after restructuring becomes law on January 1, 1994. If even the slimmest of margins prevails at County Council agreeing to MVA, then all Townships – even those which reject it – will be obligated to accept it. The legislation robs us of control over our future taxes, and places this on the County Council doorstep.
The restructuring deal has in many cases put together municipalities in the County with differing tax bases and differing years for assessment values. One example is Elmvale, Flos and Vespra – soon to be called the Township of Springwater, no less. These three lucky municipalities will be “one happy family” in 1994 and may well have to make some adjustments to be fair to all their taxpayers.
But not Tiny! Tiny has ended up being the ONLY municipality in Simcoe which comes out an all-round loser. It is the only municipality which suffers elective surgery, and has nothing grafted onto it! Tiny does not need reassessment!
But we could get it anyway, if cottagers and other taxpayers in Tiny do not put pressure on Council to reject the County move to reassess us all, based on the 1992 “market values” of properties.
The experience with MVA was a horror story in Muskoka. For this reason, the councils of Victoria, Grey, Oxford and Peterborough have deferred MVA. Which way will Simcoe go? What will you DO about it?
HOW TAXES WILL SOAR UNDER MVA
There is not just one, but FOUR ways in which MVA can cause skyrocketing taxes. You owe it to yourself and your family to examine this complex issue. Here’s how your taxes will rise under MVA:
1. MVA reassessment will raise cottage taxes especially fast because cottage “values” have risen faster than other properties in Tiny. So, cottagers will pay an even larger share of Tiny’s taxes. We now pay 70% of Tiny’s taxes. ISN’T THAT ENOUGH?
2. Provincial grants will be reduced for Tiny, because we will have a higher assessment base as a result of MVA. Several big-buck ministries (Education, Transportation, among others) adjust grants based on Tiny’s equalized assessment. When Tiny’s assessment increases, their grants decrease. The shortfall will be collected from YOU.
3. County and Education apportionment will shift when Tiny’s assessment rises as a result of MVA. It is no secret that Tiny’s assessment will increase more than the other municipalities in Simcoe because Tiny has so many cottages. So, Tiny will be allocated a bigger share of these huge costs, and will collect the extra from YOU.
4. Mill rate adjustments by Tiny, Simcoe County, or the Boards of Education could occur any time. Under MVA, Tiny will pay a higher proportion of them, and cottagers will bear the lion’s share, based on the extra assessment. The extra bucks come from YOU.
PROBLEMS WITH MVA
While cottagers will be hit worst from MVA, all taxpayers in Tiny will be gouged by the process. Several of the four points above hit all taxpayers in Tiny. This is not a cottagers versus inland issue. All taxpayers in Tiny should revolt!
There are serious problems with MVA: * it ignores the ability to pay, being based on one asset only
* it is based on shaky data: only about 2-3% of cottage properties are actually sold in a given year, yet these sales data are used to generate the values that will shoot up your taxes, whether you ever intend to sell or not
* accurate assessment is almost impossible in cottage and rural areas because properties are so individual; successful appeal against an MVA assessment is almost impossible
* it compounds the double taxation of cottage owners. It is well documented that Ontario relies much more on property taxation than elsewhere in Canada (Ontario 17.5%, all others average 11%). Cottagers pay this twice over.
* basing property taxes on reassessed MVA is tantamount to taxing you on unrealized capital gains, ones you may never realize in your lifetime.
SOME OTHER ABSURDITIES OF MVA
The provincial tax system is now being reviewed by the Fair Tax Commission. There could be fundamental reform, and a property tax working group will scrutinize what is recommended.
It is irresponsible and unfair to take irreversible decisions on tax policy just months before a new policy may be put forward. It is irresponsible and unfair to expect cottagers to bear a larger share of the tax load than the 70% they now pay.
MVA should be rejected and not just deferred. MVA is a concept whose time has come . . . and gone.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Are you concerned? You should be. MVA could be one more straw that breaks the camel’s back. IT COULD DRIVE MANY FAMILIES FROM THEIR COTTAGES!
The time to make your views known on MVA is NOW. The Federation has sent a petition to all Associations, demanding that Tiny Council oppose MVA for Tiny and at County Council. These are coming in, and should all be mailed or faxed to Tiny Council (705-526-2372).
Make sure you sign the petition for your association. Make sure your executive sends it in!
If you are not an association member or if you wish to make an individual statement, use the coupon on this page. Clip, fill, and send it! Or compose your own letter and mail/fax it. Get your friends to join you!
