A potential incentive for new purpose-built rental housing in Ontario comes with adverse implications for existing multifamily properties, thanks to the mathematics of property tax allocation.

The recent regulation to postpone Ontario's property reassessment for another year stretches the assessment cycle to double its originally intended time span.

Ontario’s overdue property reassessment is on hold until at least 2024, leaving many commercial ratepayers with a further wait to realize tax reductions from pandemic-related value erosion.

As announced in the provincial budget, the Ontario government plans to equalize the business education tax (BET) rate at 0.88 per cent for 2021, equating to a $450-million tax cut province-wide.

The move was announced in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, but additionally opens a window to adjust the mechanics of the assessment process itself.

The action is included in a list of initiatives associated with Bill 66, the proposed Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act, even though none of the bill's dozens of legislative amendments pertain to the Assessment Act.

The launch of a new four-year cycle in 2017 spurred a wave of assessment appeals as property owners reacted to often dramatic increases in value over the previous assessment.