Richmond Hill property values spike highest in Ontario

Waterfront property assessments jump 16.3%: MPAC

Yorkregion.com
June 8, 2016
By Kim Zarzour

The good news: your house in Richmond Hill is likely worth a lot more than it was four years ago.

The bad news: your house in Richmond Hill is likely worth a lot more than it was four years ago.

The soaring GTA real estate market - particularly hot in Richmond Hill - means the average home assessment has soared, too.

But no need to panic - that does not necessarily mean your taxes will follow suit.

In a 15-minute presentation before council’s committee of the whole Tuesday, Natasha Dawood with the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) said that Richmond Hill’s average property assessment has increased by more than 47 per cent since 2012 - the highest increase in the province.

That assessment change will be phased in, with a difference in the first year - between 2016 and 2017 - of 11.8 per cent in Richmond Hill, compared to 10.1 per cent for homes overall in the Region of York.

Single-family waterfront homes in Richmond Hill will see the biggest leap. Those assessments increase by 16.3 per cent, compared to 4.9 per cent for other waterfront homes in York.

This difference is mainly due to the area being developed around Lake Wilcox, Dawood said.

For a single-family residential home in York Region, the 2016-2017 increase will be 10.5 per cent compared to Richmond Hill’s 12.7 per cent increase. Among condominiums, the increase is 3.9 per cent across the region and slightly lower at 3.3 per cent in Richmond Hill.

Each homeowner pays municipal taxes according to how much their home is worth. Every four years the values are reset by MPAC, the firm that assesses real estate values in Ontario. Those assessments form the basis for calculating your property tax rate for the 2017-2020 tax years.

VIDEO EXPLAINS PROCESS

How reassessment impacts your tax rate is complicated and a video has been posted to the town’s website, richmondhill.ca, to help explain the process. Whether your taxes go up as a result of an assessment increase is dependent on how your assessment change compares with the average change across the municipality.

The last provincewide reassessment, in January 2012, saw Richmond Hill’s values jump by 31 per cent.

Homeowners across York Region will be mailed their official notification starting June 13. That’s earlier than in previous reassessments, Dawood said. Traditionally the notices are mailed out in the fall, but this year they began mailings in April in the Barrie-Simcoe area, with further mailings to be staggered out over a 21-week mailing period across the province.

Among other changes to the process this year, Dawood said MPAC increased sales investigations and data quality checks, with 34,724 data elements examined to reach the values for Richmond Hill homes.

The five key elements that determine your property’s value are location, lot dimension, living area, quality of construction and age of the property, she said.

The corporation has also set a new deadline for request for reconsideration, changed from March 31 of the following year to 120 days following the date your property assessment notice was issued.

For Richmond Hill, the new deadline is Oct. 11, 2016.

Dawood suggested homeowners ask themselves, when they receive their assessment notice, “could I have sold my property for the assessed value on Jan. 1?”

“If the answer is yes, we’ve done our job. If the answer is no, we’re here to work with you to ensure accuracy in your assessment.”

If you believe your assessment is incorrect, you can learn more about the process at MPAC’s website aboutmyproperty.ca, where you’ll find information on how it was assessed, market trends, and comparisons to other homes in community.

Filing a request for reconsideration is a free process and if you’re not satisfied with the results of that request, you can file an appeal with the assessment review board, which costs $75 for a residential property, $150 for commercial properties.

‘CONCERN FOR SENIORS’

Residents who are questioning their assessment change should speak with their neighbours about their assessments first, suggested Regional Councillor Brenda Hogg. Many variables go into the valuation - including whether a busy street is running behind the home or the basement has been renovated.

Regional Councillor Vito Spatafora expressed concerned over those who will be hardest hit by a jump in assessment value.

“The concern is at the south end there are usually people on fixed income, limited income, seniors who ... may be absorbing the shift of the tax burden,” he said.

“I’m concerned they may be forced out of their residence as a result. I think we need to be able to assist people, especially people on fixed income.”

MPAC has attempted to ease the increase by phasing it in over four years, Dawood said, and for those who are struggling, there are also avenues available to assist through the Municipal Act.