East Gwillimbury property values to be assessed in 2016

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 11, 2016
By Simon Martin

What do property taxes, water rates and electricity bills have in common? They are always going up.

Hikes don’t end there, unfortunately.

Another factor that might cut into your bottom line in 2016 will be new property assessments from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) that take place every four years.

In 2012, the average home assessment increased 15.3 per cent in East Gwillimbury.

An increase in assessment does not necessarily mean an increase in property taxes, MPAC says, adding the key factor is how much your property value has increased compared to the average increase in your municipality.

Representatives from MPAC were at council Tuesday explaining how the town would eventually get its hands on new property tax revenue from new homes being built in the municipality, including 1,558 new home sales in the slated developments of Queensville, Holland Landing and Sharon.

An influx of residential growth will force the town to hire more staff in the coming years, including a zoning examiner in 2017, a planner in 2018 and a building inspector in 2019, CAO Tom Webster said.

Staff is hoping to hire as many contract workers as possible to deal with a large spike of projected growth this year and into 2017.

Town staff estimates another 1,400 new homes will be built over the next two years, with that rate falling to 800 from 2018 to 2020.

These new homes will receive services as soon as July 1, so the town will see property tax revenue this summer, MPAC spokesperson Heather Colquhoun said, adding new homes would be assessed anywhere between five months to one year after occupancy. Colquhoun also reminded the town that the sale price of new homes will have no bearing on actual assessment value.

Mayor Virginia Hackson said it’s important for the town to engage new residents to help them understand they could be on the hook for a double property tax bill due to the delayed assessment.

“I think it leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths (if they don’t know),” she said.