Boost tax base with more industry, less tourism: Georgina ratepayers group

Georgina has the lowest assessed property values but the highest municipal tax rate

Yorkregion.com
July 9, 2019
Amanda Persico

Since 2016, Georgina homeowners have paid on average $113 or three per cent more in taxes each year.

But the overall amount paid in property taxes is one of the lowest in York Region, according to a town report.

On the flip side, Georgina has the highest municipal tax rate.

It also has the lowest assessed property values, according to the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

Development charges funding cost of Georgina's $42M MURC plummet in 2018
MPAC graphic

The town’s tax rate is a multiplier, Mayor Margaret Quirk said during a recent council meeting, meaning the lower the home value, the higher the tax rate to collect the necessary amount of taxes.

“It costs just as much to clear a kilometre of road here as it does in Newmarket,” she said. “It costs just the same to buy a dump truck here as it does in Richmond Hill.”

The days of Georgina residents paying less than anyone else could be coming to an end.

Based on MPAC's provincewide property value assessment completed in 2016, the average single-family home in 2018 in Georgina was valued at about $384,000.

The average assessed value for waterfront property, which includes water access, lake and riverside properties, was about $684,000.

While all of this doesn’t have an impact on the resale value of your home, your property taxes are based on the assessed value.

“I ask (residents): 'Would you sell your house for that (MPAC) value,'” Quirk said.

“One hundred per cent say, ‘No, my house is worth more than that.’ Well, shhh, don’t tell MPAC because we base our taxes on that.”

This is the third year in the four-year MPAC assessment cycle, with new assessments starting in early 2020 used to calculate property taxes from 2021 to 2024.

The housing market took a deep dive, but some experts say it is on the rebound, which could mean higher assessment values for Georgina residents.

Higher assessed values could mean more tax money is handed over by property owners.

With the potential for higher property taxes mixed with large town projects on the horizon, ratepayers groups are concerned with the heavy tax burden placed squarely on the shoulders of residents.

More than 92 per cent of Georgina’s taxes comes from the residential side. In 2018, that amounted to about $39.5 million. Commercial units brought in about six per cent of the tax cash flow, amounting to about $2.7 million.

The town needs to increase its tax base, said Garry Harpley, a co-ordinator of the Pefferlaw Association of Ratepayers (PAR).

And the way to do that is to drop the emphasis on tourism.

“You won’t increase the tax base by attracting tourists,” said Harpley, who once operated a chip truck in the area. “The town will spend more to bring them here. Day trippers don't spend one penny here."

There are a number of factors that work against the idea of Georgina as a tourism destination, from not having enough beach front to accommodate tourists to the lack of harbour and boating amenities.

Instead, the town should focus on attracting light industry, such as education or medical.

“Light industry is not a priority,” said Jim Keenan, anther PAR co-ordinator.