Ontario’s newly released fall economic statement confirms that property reassessment is still on hold, but a small tweak is in the works to alleviate the tax burden on some student housing projects. In the interim, 2016 market values will remain in place for the 2025 tax year.
“Through this review, constructive input has been received from municipalities, business representatives, property tax professionals and other stakeholders,” the economic statement reports. “Provincewide property tax reassessments will continue to be deferred until this work is complete.”
Thus far, those consultations are identified as influencing factors in the newly created flexibility for municipalities to establish an optional tax subclass for new purpose-built rental construction. As well, based on feedback from the review, the government is promising to open up the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation’s (MPAC) database to help inform municipal planning exercises, and to create a centralized electronic assessment roll for public access.
A package of legislative amendments introduced in tandem with yesterday’s tabling of the economic statement also includes a proposed change to the Assessment Act to clarify that land that accommodates university-operated student housing is exempt from property taxation even if it is located separately from that university’s main campus.
The economic statement hints there could be future “assessment methodology changes” for affordable rental housing. It also identifies York Region as the first municipality to indicate that it plans to approve a reduced property tax rate for new purpose-built rental housing for the 2025 tax year.
Meanwhile, some landowners who support new construction can expect to receive updated assessment notices after the Ontario government created a new property tax class for lands used for aggregate extraction earlier this year. This applies to roughly 3,200 pits or quarries across province. Evaluations will continue to be pegged to 2016 market values, but will apply a methodology arising from a recent Assessment Review Board ruling and subsequent appeal court decision.
