There has been a lot of bad communication on the recent Sarnia property assessments which are being sent out by MPAC. The average Sarnia home saw a slight increase of 1.8% over the last 4 years. The other number being thrown around is that the average assessment value will be down 1.22% starting in January 2013. If you live on the lake your assessed value will be going up on average by 18% to catch up to the increased property values of lakefront properties.
The system is based on how your assessment compares to the average assessment. So if the average assessment in Sarnia is up 1.8% and yours went up 1.8% you will have no change other than your annual budget increases passed by council. If the average is 1.8% and yours went up 5.8% you would pay an additional 4% phased in over 4 years or 1% per year on top of the annual budget increase. Likewise if yours went down or less than the the 1.8% your taxes will go down by the % difference effective January 1, 2013 but still subject to annual budget increases passed by council. Decreases are implemented in year 1, no phase in. All this assumes Sarina’s council’s tax policy does not change in the amount they separate amongst residential, commercial, agricultural, etc.
Before you jump for joy and expect a smaller tax bill if you have a decrease in your assessed value that is not necessarily the case. We still need to account for the annual increase to the city budget which is projected at 4% which might be cut down to 3.5% due to a forecast of a smaller number of MPAC assessment appeals because this update is in better line with market values versus 2008.
Let’s work through my MPAC assessment and see what happens.
Current Assessed value as of January 1, 2012 = $289,000
Taxes assessed at the City of Sarnia Tax rate of 1.479335% = $4,275/year
My Assessed value went down -3.46% which is more than the average of -1.22% so my new assessed value will be $279,000.
So I have to take the current tax rate and add the proposed budget hike of 3.5% which equals 1.5311% x $279,000 = $4,271/year,
This means in theory by taxes will go down by a Starbucks Coffee and my value went down more than the average.
