Positive property assessment for Champlain Township
Champlain Township is worth more as far as the provincial agency that does property assessments is concerned.
The Municipal Property Assessment Corp. (MPAC) sent Champlain Township a copy of its 2017 year-end assessment report for the 2018 tax year. Mayor Gary Barton commented on the report during township council’s review of the document during the January 9 council meeting.
“Lots of people complain that the (property) assessments are too high,” Mayor Barton said. “But the (MPAC) assessment does not (always) match the market value.”
MPAC does annual reviews of overall and individual property assessments throughout the province. Changes to the overall assessment figures are phased in over a four-year period.
The 2017 MPAC review report noted that some of the challenges to doing the assessments for Ontario during the past year included decisions by many major companies on retail and commercial franchise closures that affected some Ontario municipalities. Some of those decisions were spurred by the increase in online shopping that resulted in some businesses closing because their walkin customer base vanished into cyberspace.
The appendix to the main report features a list of the different classes of property in Champlain Township, from residential to those classed as “property tax exempt”. The list also provides combined current assessment value totals (CVA) for the entire township for 2016, 2017 and 2018, along with the percentage changes.
The appendix table noted that Champlain Township had an overall 4.4 per cent increase in the combined total value of its property assessment from 2016 up to and including the projections for 2018.
“We are going up (in value) every year,” said Paula Knudsen, township administrator/treasurer. “The MPAC assessment, with a few exceptions, is going up.”
Knudsen noted that the township is experiencing some residential growth. There are several new subdivision projects in the Village of L’Orignal.
Exceptions to the overall increase in individual assessment values could be the result of building demolitions or other actions that might change the value of a property. Failure to maintain a property in good condition can affect its assessment. Other factors may be involved but a property owner would need to contact MPAC for a more detailed explanation.