{"id":16839,"date":"2017-03-22T18:03:35","date_gmt":"2017-03-22T22:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=16839"},"modified":"2017-03-22T18:03:35","modified_gmt":"2017-03-22T22:03:35","slug":"councils-question-impact-regional-tax-shift-might-have-on-homeowners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/councils-question-impact-regional-tax-shift-might-have-on-homeowners\/","title":{"rendered":"Councils question impact Regional \u201ctax shift\u201d might have on homeowners"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Municipal CAOs and treasurers are expected to meet this week to understand the full implications of a possible \u201ctax shift\u201d at the Regional level and what its impact might mean to home- and business-owners.
\nOn April 9, the Region of York is expected to meet to discuss a possible re-jigging of the tax burden ratios currently in place between residential and business\/commercial taxpayers following reassessment from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).
\nAurora Council touched upon the issue this month, responding to a recommendation from the Town of Georgina, which took a firm stand calling on the Region to maintain the tax ratios as they are.
\n\u201cStaff are of the opinion that [no change] promotes good and sound tax policy, consistent with the framework of the current market value assessment system of property taxation,\u201d said Georgina in its resolution. \u201cFurther, the impacts of the recent reassessment contribute to a shift in property taxes to the business property classes in favour of the residential classes. Although a property by property analysis is not available, the affect to an individual property owner\u2019s total tax levy will be negligible.\u201d
\nNevertheless, Aurora Council moved to quell any concerns that might arise from the discussions.
\nAlthough some members said they supported Georgina\u2019s resolution, they asked for a further report on local impacts before the April 9 meeting in Newmarket.
\n\u201cThis item came up at the Regional CAOs meeting last week and there has been a special meeting convened of the treasurers and CAOs to delve further into this before it goes to Regional Council so the implications for all the municipalities within the Region is well understood before it hits the table,\u201d said Aurora CAO Doug Nadorozny. \u201cWe want to get together because the way the Region is proposing to adjust the burden between the residential and commercial class, it obviously does have effects for the individual municipalities depending on what their ratios are as they exist now.
\n\u201cIt is too early to say what the actual impact is. As proposed by the Region, it isn\u2019t really an adjustment to the property tax. Basically, the residential class would pick up an extra bit of burden the way it is proposed by the Region. In theory, the whole municipal residential class would be picking up the burden, but how that burden is shared depends on your valuation within where you fit in the Region. If your property tax increases were the same, then you have an offsetting effect or an enlarged effect. It is a very complex issue [and that is why I] wanted to get all the treasurers in the room to look at the whole landscape.\u201d
\nResponding to a comment from Councillor Tom Mrakas noting Toronto\u2019s commercial ratio is higher than residential, resulting in a lower tax rate, Aurora treasurer Dan Elliott said the city indeed has a different blend with commercial properties carrying a heavier freight.
\n\u201cThat is one of the reasons why their residential rates seem to be so much more affordable than ours,\u201d said Mr. Elliott. \u201cThe Province is trying to force them, through policy, to bring that down closer to the Range of Fairness, that the ratio should be somewhere between .6 and 1.1 [per cent]. That is the range established by the Province.
\n\u201cWe are probably closest [to that range] universally across York Region and have been right from the outset. In many ways we are significantly ahead of the others.\u201d
\nNevertheless, Council asked for assurances and updates as to the impact this could have locally pending the April 9 meeting.
\n\u201cA lot of people\u2019s ears go up when they hear \u2018tax\u2019 and \u2018increased assessment\u2019 because they think there is something looming, but there really isn\u2019t anything at this stage,\u201d said Councillor John Abel. \u201cThis is a proactive approach to what we see on the horizon. Our CAOs are getting together to look after all our best interests and make sure something fair and reasonable is going to come down the line and not catch us by surprise.\u201d
\nAdded Mr. Nadorozny: \u201cI don\u2019t want to speak prematurely of what the Region\u2019s intentions are, but suffice it to say they are wrestling with the balance of the residential and commercial class and, if there is an adjustment, which way it should go.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Municipal CAOs and treasurers are expected to meet this week to understand the full implications of a possible \u201ctax shift\u201d at the Regional level and what its impact might mean to home- and business-owners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-4nB","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-04 06:14:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16839\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}