District of Parry Sound area property taxpayers see an approximate 7.3 per cent assessment increase in 2009
Property Assessment Notices in the mail to over 49,000 District of Parry Sound property owners in first assessment update since 2005
Parry Sound, Ontario, November 10, 2008 – Parry Sound area will see an average assessment increase of 7.3 per cent in 2009 as result of the four-year phase-in of assessment increases introduced by the Provincial Government.
“Residential property values have increased by approximately 30 per cent in the District of Parry Sound since 2005, when the last assessment update was done. Because of the four-year phase-in introduced by the Provincial Government, property taxpayers in the District of Parry Sound will see an average assessment increase of approximately 7.3 per cent,” said Alison Giffen, Municipal Relations Representative in the Parry Sound Office of the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).
An increase in assessment does not necessarily mean an increase in property taxes. If the assessed value of a home has increased by the same percentage as the average in the municipality, there might be no increase in the property taxes paid by a property owner.
Giffen said residential property values have increased by approximately 27 per cent in the West Parry Sound area and approximately 33 per cent in the East Parry Sound area. With the four-year phase-in, property taxpayers will see an average increase of approximately 6.7 and 8.3 per cent respectively for 2009.
Since 2005, waterfront property and farmland for farming purposes in the West Parry Sound area have also both increased in value, by approximately 30 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively. Because of the four-year phase-in, property taxpayers will see an average increase of approximately 7.5 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively, for the 2009 tax year.
For the East Parry Sound area, waterfront property and farmland for farming purposes have also both increased in value, by approximately 40 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively. Because of the four-year phase-in, property taxpayers will see an average increase of approximately 10 per cent and 0.85 per cent respectively, for the 2009 tax year.
The phase-in program does not apply to decreases in assessed value. The full amount of a decrease will be applied during the 2009 tax year.
“Our values are based on actual selling prices and reflect the local real estate market,” Giffen said. “We have seen selling prices for homes, waterfront property and farmland increase over the past three years and our values show that.”
Municipalities establish tax rates that are applied to assessed values to pay for local services, and the Provincial Government sets rates for the education portion of the tax.
Property Assessment Notices have now been mailed to more than 49,000 property owners in the District of Parry Sound.
“We have made a number of changes to improve customer service and provide property taxpayers with more information that they can use to decide if their assessed value is accurate,” Giffen said.
The changes include redesigning the Property Assessment Notice to make it easier to read and new services on our website that make it easier for people to compare properties and decide if their assessment is correct.
“Our role is to assess property accurately. We strive for accuracy but when assessing nearly 4.7 million properties across Ontario, mistakes can be made. If a property taxpayer believes an error has been made and that his or her property would not have sold for its assessed value on January 1, 2008, we want them to call us or visit our Parry Sound office. We’ll explain how we arrived at the assessment and, if it’s wrong, we’ll fix it,” Giffen said.
Hours at the Parry Sound office will be extended from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday through December 5 to respond to local taxpayers’ questions. The regular hours at the Parry Sound office are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. Property taxpayers can also call the Customer Contact Centre at 1 866 296-6722 (MPAC) or visit the MPAC website at www.mpac.ca for more information.
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