MPAC Valuation
- Thread starter SkyRider
- Start date
I fear this means my property tax bill will climb 48% or more. Insurance will probably use this as an excuse to jack up my premiums. Not good.
Yes, pretty much the same thing.
Just arrived in the mail last week.
It's to be phased in over the next 4 years. But good news for the City of Toronto I guess. They will establish a new mill rate, but you can bet your sweet ass that you (and me) are going to be paying a shit load more taxes.
Interesting to note that there is a way to appeal the assessment, but that's a fool's errand as I'm well aware that if I do that my assessment could even increase as a result of any such appeal since I know what similar houses are selling for on my street and in my neighbourhood and my MPAC assessment is actually lower than what they are selling for. I appealed my assessment back in 2000 based on the price I bought it for in 1996, so it was easy to say, "this is what the house was worth on the open market at the time you did your assessment". At that time, they provide the hearing with a list of what other properties are selling for in order to justify their assessment. So now, it would not be a good idea to appeal (at least for me) as they will just pull out the list of what houses on my street are selling for.
Just arrived in the mail last week.
It's to be phased in over the next 4 years. But good news for the City of Toronto I guess. They will establish a new mill rate, but you can bet your sweet ass that you (and me) are going to be paying a shit load more taxes.
Interesting to note that there is a way to appeal the assessment, but that's a fool's errand as I'm well aware that if I do that my assessment could even increase as a result of any such appeal since I know what similar houses are selling for on my street and in my neighbourhood and my MPAC assessment is actually lower than what they are selling for. I appealed my assessment back in 2000 based on the price I bought it for in 1996, so it was easy to say, "this is what the house was worth on the open market at the time you did your assessment". At that time, they provide the hearing with a list of what other properties are selling for in order to justify their assessment. So now, it would not be a good idea to appeal (at least for me) as they will just pull out the list of what houses on my street are selling for.
Your home insurance is going to go through the roof.
But not because of this assessment. Home insurance costs are based on "cost to rebuild" and the cost of construction in Toronto has not dramatically increased at all. (It's the land value that is increasing and in the event of a fire, the land is still going to be fine.)
Nope, your home insurance is going to go through the roof because of what happened out west in Fort McMurray. Insurance companies are going to have to pay out a lot of claims and they don't like to pay. So you and me and everyone else is going to have to pay more. Same thing happened in 2013 during the great rain storms here in Toronto.
If you appeal, in the hopes of a lower assessment, you are opening the door to a more "in depth" assessment. They will visit your house and they will take very careful note of what was in your original assessment vs. what the detailed inspection revealed. (Say the original assessment did not note a finished basement, and you have a finished basement, and as a result of your appeal, they carry out a detailed inspection of your home and say, "hey, this guy has a finished basement and our original assessment indicated an unfinished basement. In fact, he also has a fireplace, and central air conditioning too and his assessment didn't show that. ADD all of those to his assessment")
In other words, if you aren't 100 percent confident that your assessment is too high, don't appeal because the appeal will open the door to an in depth assessment. Your assessment you received in the mail is not the maximum. It's what they are saying your house is worth on the open market. If you reject it, all bets are off.
Yes, I've been there, I've seen first hand how it works.
Your taxes should only be impacted if the increase in assessed value of your house is disproportionate to that of the entire city. If every other property is going up in value by roughly the same proportion than your share of the property tax burden will remain the same, subject to annual increases that we are all subject to.
I haven't gotten my assessment yet, but in past years I've been successful in getting the assessment reduced by disputing it. Never by a huge amount, but by maybe 10 or 15% each time. Still something.
Usually I send in a list of problems with my unit. So far they have never visited. I get the impression that the small reduction is to shoo me away. If your appealed all the way to a hearing they might do something different.
This year my place is rented out, I'm not sure whether I can use the rent I get as evidence of valuation.
Usually I send in a list of problems with my unit. So far they have never visited. I get the impression that the small reduction is to shoo me away. If your appealed all the way to a hearing they might do something different.
This year my place is rented out, I'm not sure whether I can use the rent I get as evidence of valuation.
I noticed the assessment came in approximately $70-100k lower vs. what the houses are going in my area. Still an increase, however I am not risking disputing them based on some of the points made by JTK and the fact that I am okay with the increase.
When I first appealed, it was 2000 or so. It was based on an assessment that was done right around the time I bought the house. I had to attend a tribunal complete with judge and swear to tell the truth.
During that hearing, they had photos of my house, they had values that other houses on the street had sold for. They showed me the detailed assessment form that had be done on my place and I noted that they had indicated that there was no fireplace. They were even aware that I had added central air conditioning since buying the house and claimed that it added 6 grand to the value of my place. In the end, we compromised by taking the amount I was disputing (based on what I paid vs. what the house was assessed at) and subtracting the 6k for Central Air (even though I had only paid about 3k for the CA). The "judge" asked me if I could live with that, or did I want a full inspection of my house (he looked right at me and I knew what he was saying without him having to say it.)
So I took the deal.
One other time, I came home to find a card hanging from my front door that MPAC had been to my house and that there was no need for me to call them as they had satisfied themselves that my assessment was correct. (I can only guess that they peered in my basement windows and satisfied themselves that my basement was still in fact, quite unfinished.)
During that hearing, they had photos of my house, they had values that other houses on the street had sold for. They showed me the detailed assessment form that had be done on my place and I noted that they had indicated that there was no fireplace. They were even aware that I had added central air conditioning since buying the house and claimed that it added 6 grand to the value of my place. In the end, we compromised by taking the amount I was disputing (based on what I paid vs. what the house was assessed at) and subtracting the 6k for Central Air (even though I had only paid about 3k for the CA). The "judge" asked me if I could live with that, or did I want a full inspection of my house (he looked right at me and I knew what he was saying without him having to say it.)
So I took the deal.
One other time, I came home to find a card hanging from my front door that MPAC had been to my house and that there was no need for me to call them as they had satisfied themselves that my assessment was correct. (I can only guess that they peered in my basement windows and satisfied themselves that my basement was still in fact, quite unfinished.)
There is no reason to freak out. The tax burden will be spread out over all the properties, it is only how the value of your property has appreciated RELATIVE to other Toronto properties that really matters. The MPAC for my property is still about 25% below market IMHO.
