A family of five got a nasty shock from Winnipeg’s city hall this festive season. Starting in the new year, their monthly Tax Installment Payment Plan (TIPP) bill is going up 31 per cent.

“They sent us a letter a week or so ago — our TIPP went from $169 to $221,” said Ken Thoroski, who lives in St. Vital.

“I thought there might be some kind of mistake.”

The city says it’s no mistake — the increase is for their own good.
“Given the recent increase in assessed value for many homes in the city, the assessment and taxation department is anticipating an increase in taxes for some homeowners,” a 311 operator told Thoroski in an email.

While any increase in property taxes won’t be decided until spring when city council sets the municipal budget, the TIPP program isn’t waiting.
“In order to diminish the impact of a possible tax increase, the department is estimating your possible 2010 taxes and setting your monthly TIPP payment accordingly” starting Jan. 1. Once the mill rate is set in the spring, the department will know exactly what Thoroski’s taxes will be for 2010 and adjust his monthly TIPP up or down as necessary, the city said.

“It’s wrong,” Thoroski said. “They’re hitting you as hard as they can up front.”

The TIPP program allows property and business owners to make consecutive monthly payments for taxes rather than a single annual payment.

It starts on Jan. 1 of each year and payments are made on the first banking day of each month by automatic withdrawal from an account with chequing privileges at a financial institution.

Thoroski said upping his TIPP payment by so much before the new rate is set isn’t much of a privilege.

“You’re going to pay for 12 months and they hit you hard up front so they’re way ahead and pay you back later,” Thoroski said.

“It’s putting more money in their coffers,” continued the married father of three.

No one is forced to be on the TIPP program, which was designed to help people budget their property and school taxes, said the city’s head of assessment and taxation.

“If they have a real concern with how they’re being requested to make payments when taxes aren’t due, then send us a letter asking us to remove them from TIPP,” Nelson Karpa said. The city will then send the tax bill in the spring and the family can pay it at the end of June when the full amount is due, he said.

Still, the increase in property taxes riles Thoroski, who says the city won’t address his complaints about the sidewalk flooding on his street and noisy, over-lit service stations near his home.

Karpa said an increase in property taxes follows the 2008 reassessment, in which the market value of some homes in Winnipeg increased by as much as 100 per cent from five years earlier.

“There was a pretty dramatic increase in the value of real estate,” Karpa said. The average property value increased 67 per cent, he said.

“We simply report on what the market has done.”

Homeowners whose assessment increase is above the city average will likely see their property taxes increase.

The market value of Thoroski’s home increased 78 per cent from 2003 to 2008, according to the city’s property assessment website.

If city council succeeds in freezing property taxes again, homeowners with assessment increases below 67 per cent could see their property taxes drop.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/tax-bill-jump-riles-homeowner-79968637.html

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