Board of Revision given 7 months to handle overflowing Winnipeg tax appeals





Approximately 8,500 appeals were received by the Board of Revision from property owners of Winnipeg and the Board is expected to get these cases done for only seven months.

Back in April 2008, there has been a reassessment of 200,000 properties spear headed by the city government. This move let them know that the value of homes, condo and duplexes in Winnipeg was raised by 78 per cent since 2003.

It was in late 2008 and early 2009 that the 2010 preliminary assessment notices were mailed. Those were with assessor’s proposal to get into details of the new values with a series of meetings. Then, the final assessment letters were sent this spring, letting the recipient know about their right to appeal with the city’s Board of Revision.

One thing that the officials didn’t anticipate is the overflowing appeals that they received upon the submission deadline. They had to deal with 2,995 appeals in total.

“It may be sticker shock. They see the number change,” said John Karpluk, appeals manager with the Board of Revision.

On the other side of the coin, many homeowners mistakenly believe that if their home increases in value by 78 per cent, their property taxes will jump that much as well. But that’s not how property-tax system works: Residential property owners only stand to see some form of increase if the value if their home rises more than the city-wide average.

For example, a home assessed at $200,000 in 2003 that was reassessed at $300,000 in 2008 may actually see its property taxes decrease, as the 50 per cent jump was well below the 78-oer-cent average rise for residential properties.

“Just because the value of your land has gone up, doesn’t mean your taxes are going up,” said St. James-Brooklands Coun. Scoot Fielding, city council’s property and development chairman.

Property taxes could increase next year provided the city council’s approval. Just reminder, the council has frozen the property tax for 12 years now so, the only increase in property tax revenue today comes from new developments.

The Board of Revision will hear its first appeal on July 13 and expects to wrap it up after 7 months. About 60 per cent of the appeals involve residential properties, appeals manager Karpluk said.

The assessments conducted in 2008 do not kick in until the 2010 taxation year. Beginning in 2010 property assessment will take place every two years, instead of every four.

Residential property owners who are not paying their 2009 taxes on the installment plan have until June 30 to pay the city. A lemonade stand like kiosk has been placed on James Avenue on the north side of city hall to allows customers to swoop by without in the queue inside.

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Glen Murray responds

Re: Budget Chief Eyes City Sales Tax, Nov. 5.

This article incorrectly states that I support the sales tax plan put forward by Toronto’s budget chief, Shelley Carroll, and it misrepresents my views on municipal taxation.

I was mayor of Winnipeg when we proposed a 1% sales tax as replacement revenue for a 50% cut in property taxes as part of a larger plan developed to modernize city finances and reduce the overall tax burden. That plan was developed over two years in partnership with business, labour and community organizations.

There is no plan or partnership in Toronto to reform city government; instead city hall seems to believe that every problem can be fixed by adding or increasing a tax.

When I proposed a sales tax as part of a new tax system, Winnipeg had already made very tough decisions including cutting the city debt in half, reducing property taxes, shrinking the city government and reducing the size of the bureaucracy. The opposite has been happening in Toronto.

I believe in building the tax base, not the tax burden.

Glen Murray, CEO, Canadian Urban Institute, Toronto.

http://www.financialpost.com/scripts/story.html?id=2191889

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