← Back to Property Taxes
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| AboutMyPropertyTM | AboutMyPropertyTM is a secure, online service that provides property owners with convenient access to basic property valuation information. Through AboutMyPropertyTM, all property owners have access to their assessment roll information (e.g. current value assessment, legal discretion, lot size) and assessment roll values on comparable properties of their choice. |
| ASSESSMENT ACT | The law that governs the way property is assessed for taxation purposes in Ontario. |
| ASSESSMENT CYCLE | The four year cycle of assessment-related activity which leads to the delivery of revised current value assessments to municipalities for taxation purposes for the next four years. |
| ASSESSMENT REVIEW BOARD (ARB) | An independent tribunal, which reports to the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General and hears assessment appeals from property taxpayers. |
| ASSESSED VALUE (Assessment) | The value of a property (land and buildings) for taxation purposes. |
| CAPPING AND CLAWBACK | Capping refers to a municipality’s option to limit, or cap, the tax increases on commercial, industrial and multi-residential properties only. A limit on tax decreases, to fund the cost of capping, is known as a clawback. |
| CURRENT VALUE | The price a property might reasonably be expected to sell for on the open market, by a willing buyer from a willing seller, in an arm’s length transaction. For property assessment purposes, current value and assessed value are the same thing. |
| EXEMPT PROPERTY | Property which is assessed, but not taxed. Generally, properties which are exempt from property taxes provide services for the public good, such as schools, churches and hospitals, along with government locations. Other charities and philanthropic organizations mentioned in the Assessment Act may be given exempt status if certain criteria are met. Properties eligible for exemption are found in Section 3 of the Assessment Act. |
| MUNICIPAL ACT | The statute governing all aspects of municipal operations, including the levy and collection of property taxes and the addition of penalty and interest charges. |
| MUNICIPAL ENUMERATION | The process of collecting information in a municipality for the purposes of preparing preliminary voters’ lists for municipal and school board elections, lists of potential jurors and the Ontario Population Report. MPAC carries out an enumeration every four years in the same year as municipal elections. |
| OMITTED ASSESSMENT | An assessment which has not been recorded on the assessment roll. When an omitted assessment is added to the assessment roll, property taxes can be collected for the current year and, if applicable, for any part or all of the previous two years. |
| PAYMENT-IN-LIEU OF TAXES | Payments made to municipalities by the provincial or federal government, where properties are exempt from property taxation. |
| PROPERTY ASSESSMENT NOTICE | A notice sent to all property owners every four years (reassessment years) to advise them of their property's current value assessment. The Notice also contains the property's classification and school support designation. Notices may also be received in any year where changes have occurred to the property. |
| PROPERTY ASSESSOR | MPAC’s staff who determine current value assessments for properties in Ontario. |
| PROPERTY CLASSIFICATION | The categorization of a property according to its use, used for tax class purposes. There are seven major classes of property: residential, multi-residential, commercial, industrial, pipe line, farm or managed forest. |
| PROPERTY TAX | The combined tax for a property comprising the municipal (local) levy, the regional levy and an education levy. |
| REASSESSMENT | The process of updating assessments on all properties in Ontario to reflect more current values. This is done every four years. The most recent was January 1, 2012 and it will be done again in 2016 and 2020 and forward. |
| SCHOOL SUPPORT | A designation from an individual which enables that person to elect school trustees and direct property taxes to that Board. |
| SUPPLEMENTARY ASSESSMENT | An assessment made during a taxation year for an addition, renovation or construction as well as a change in classification. When a supplementary assessment is added to the assessment roll, additional property taxes can be collected for that portion of the current tax year that the supplementary addresses. |
| TAX LEVY | The annual amount of property tax in dollars, which is paid by the Town’s taxpayers – residential, commercial and industrial. |
TAX LEVY INCREASE (Tax Increase) | The amount by which the Tax Levy must be increased to balance the budget. This is close to, but not the same as, the increase for the average residential taxpayer. |
TAX RATE (formerly known as a mill rate) | A percentage applied to the assessed value of a property to determine property taxes payable. Municipal tax rates are set by local municipalities (both local and regional) and education tax rates are set by the provincial government. Tax rates may differ for each property class. |
| TAXATION YEAR | The calendar year (January 1st to December 31st). |
