Monday 8/24 at 5PM there is a working Committee of the Whole session at which the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) will be making a presentation on the “State of Assessment, Present and Future in King.”  As is the usual protocol, members of the public are very welcomed to attend and listen; questions and/or deputations from the Public are not permitted.  Council members can ask questions but no decisions are made.

Understanding why the property tax owed to King is what it is is confusing.  It is a function of two things: i) the tax rate determined by the King, York Region (YR) and the School Board; and ii)  the assessed value of your property.  The latter is determined by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

Each year the taxing authority (i.e. King, YR, School Board) determines the tax rate it will charge; the three are rolled into one and that is what King uses when it sends out the tax notices.  Usually there is a fair bit of media attention to this process and the public is given opportunity to provide input.

In contrast the determination of assessment value is done once every 4 years, For the period 2013-2016 each of us have been paying a tax based on the assessment of our properties between January 2008 and 2012; if there was a change in the assessment it has been phased in over the 4 year period of 2013-2016. In 2016 MPAC will be conducting new assessments and that will be used by the municipality to calculate our property taxes in 2017 and on.

I am anticipating that Monday’s session will be informative.  Here is the formal notice for this meeting.