New Home Owners
If you have recently bought a new home or made any additions or improvements to your property, remember to make allowance for a Supplementary Tax Bill in your budget plans.
For the first 12 to 24 months after occupying a newly constructed home, property tax bills may cover the
land only, not the building, until the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is able to complete an assessment of the home. The land taxes often represent approximately one third (1/3) of the total tax bill, depending on the type of house. There may be a considerable delay from your occupancy date until you receive a tax bill that includes the house.
Once the property is assessed, the new homeowner will receive a “Property Assessment Notice” from MPAC. A Supplementary Tax Bill will follow with taxes covering the building from the date of occupancy. Residents are strongly encouraged to budget for this billing. If your mortgage payment includes taxes, the Supplementary Tax Bill will be sent to the financial institution dealing with payments.
Appealing a Supplementary Assessment
If a property owner disagrees with the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation’s (MPAC) supplementary assessment, he or she can dispute the assessment. For 2017 and subsequent taxation years property owners with a residential, farm or managed forest property must first submit a Request for Reconsideration (RfR) to MPAC within 120 days of the issuance date printed on the supplementary assessment notice. MPAC will render its decision within 180 days after submission of the RfR. If residential, farm, or managed forest property owners are not satisfied with MPAC’s decision on their RfR, they may file an appeal to the Assessment Review Board (ARB). This must be done within 90 days of the issuance of MPAC’s decision.
For commercial, industrial and multi-residential properties, owners can either file an RfR with MPAC or appeal directly to the ARB – either must be done within 120 days of the issuance date printed on the supplementary assessment notice. If the owner chooses to file an RfR with MPAC and is not satisfied with the result, they may then file an appeal to the ARB within 90 days of the issuance of MPAC’s decision.
