Homeowners will get their new property assessments in the mail this week. On average, home values have increased by 3.4% in this city, dramatically lower than what's happening in the rest of the province.
Every four years homeowners cringe when they get that letter in the mail from MPAC or the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.
But MPAC promises this time less pain for most of us.
Don Crockford lives in an urban paradise, tending to his garden and pondless stream in the west end of Ottawa, but it all comes at a cost.
“Our houses is assessed at $472,000,” says Crockford, of his two-storey original build, “and we live on Scott Street and doubt we would be able to sell it for that.”
Overall, Ontario homeowners will see an 18% increase in their property assessments over the next four years with Toronto home prices driving that increase (the greater Toronto area was 30%). In Eastern Ontario, the assessment increase stands at 5% and Ottawa itself drops to 3.45%.
Wendy Stephanson is the Deputy City Treasurer with the city of Ottawa, “We're a big government town and the government did some downsizing and some of that has affected the market in Ottawa and the slowness of the market and the prices.”
But an average is just that, some will go up, some will go down. In a neighbourhood like central-west Ottawa, the value of condos has dropped by about 11% but singles will go up between 2 and 3 percent.
“Nobody wants an increase,” says homeowner Roland Beshiri, “but 1 or 2%, I can live with that.”
A big factor, of course, in assessments is location. Kitchissippi is the hottest ward, with values rising 7.35%. Gloucester-Southgate, on the other hand, has gone up only .65% while Somerset has dropped .2%.
“The deeper dive around Somerset was really around condo market,” explains Stephanson, “and when we look at the condo market overall, condos have gone down about 5%.”
So what does all this mean for property taxes? Well, if your assessment is around that 3.45% average you likely won't see an increase. If you're below that average, you could see a decrease and if you are above that average, you will likely see an increase.
Then, of course, the city can still raise municipal taxes beyond that property assessment, which homeowner Andrée Chartier says is an issue, “The city isn't addressing the fundamental problem which is unsustainable expenses. We talk about sustainability but there's fiscal sustainability as well.”
You can visit www.aboutmyproperty.ca to learn about how your property was assessed and to look at market trends in your area.
If you do not agree with your assessment, you can file what's called a "request for reconsideration." You'll have until November 15th to do so. Only about 3 percent of homeowners actually do and about half of those, according to Scott Templeton with MPAC actually see their assessment values change.
