By Mark Schadenberg
As the movie Sleepless In Seattle made famous, "You've Got Mail !'
I believe everyone has now received their new property value report from MPAC -- Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.
If your market value number has increased by more than the average increase locally, it certainly would logically follow that your property taxes will rise in 2013.
There is a mechanism to protest (question / debate) the amount through MPAC. (http://mpac.on.ca/pdf/request_for_reconsideration_residential_2013.pdf)
Keep in mind, the MPAC number is only one part of the dual-number calculation as your city's mill rate is the multiplier to create your tax due.
As our Mayor Pat Sobeski said in a recent seminar with Woodstock-area Realtors, one of the reasons why our tax rate appears to be higher than neighbouring towns and communities, is that Woodstock carries a much lower overall debt. In other words, if you balance the books and make only the minimum debenture borrowing (City is still paying for the Community Complex twin-pad project which was completed in 1996), your community is at a balance. I think Sobeski noted that Stratford's total debt is around $100 million, which would be approximately $6,500 per household there to eliminate this hole. I'm not going to verify those numbers, but this tale has been hailed before.
What is the score ?
My concern with MPAC (www.mpac.on.ca) is that they attempt to create a value for your home. My theory is that they should ascertain a 'score' for your home based on dozens of criteria. That score could then be multiplied by a mill rate to determine your tax bill. If your neighbour's 'score' is higher they would pay more taxes. If you disagreed with your score, you could analyze the checklist knowing the number attached to your brick and mortar did not have a dollar-sign in front of it, but was simply a calculated numerical assessment. This number would be adjusted at times, especially if you (perhaps) renovated your kitchen for $50,000 or built a new garage. Otherwise, the variable that is your home's score would remain unchanged.
The mill rate would still be set by Woodstock city council through its difficult budget negotiations as they determine the exact cash number they need to collect to operate the city, county and make its education contribution for 2013.
The long criteria checklist would be extensive: size of lot, square footage above grade, percent of basement finished, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, size of garage, age of home, obvious improvements like a lifetime roof, inground pool, amenities like central vac and security, and a neighbourhood value which could be created on a grid. Finally, a small portion of the score would be a guess as to what the home may sell for under a correct 'market value' scenario of equally motivated vendor and purchaser. In other words, market value might be five percent of the equation and not 100 percent.
If this sounds like preliminary brochure copy for a personal future run for a city council seat, you might be right.
Mark Schadenberg
(519) 537-1553
Sales Representative
Royal LePage Triland
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com
Call me if you plan on buying or selling in near future
Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination
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