The Municipal Property Assessment Corp. met with town council here Monday to answer questions, including explaining the disparity between the average property assessment of properties in Fort Frances and Dryden.
“It was basically an informational session,” noted Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig. “The impetus was that we’ve seen our assessment base reduced. Anytime you see assessment go down, the implication is it’s a loss of revenue.
“During the budget process, we were comparing assessments in various communities and the question came up: why would our assessment base be so much lower than Dryden?” he added.
McCaig noted the concern is that if Fort Frances and Dryden—communities of similar sizes—both strive to provide similar services to residents, but Dryden can do it with less taxation, that begs a question of fairness in property assessment practices.
Statistics from 2003 show of the 292 homes in Fort Frances that were sold that year, the average value of the property was assessed at $90,000 while based on the 260 sold in Dryden, the average value was $129,000.
But Mark Penner, manager of customer service for MPAC, noted there are differences between many homes in Dryden and here.
“Typically speaking, sales in Dryden are slightly larger. Dryden has slightly newer homes that the Fort Frances area,” he noted. “And then there’s the number of waterfront homes versus non-waterfront homes.”
Penner said that in 2003, a total of 27 waterfront homes were sold in Dryden while only one was sold here. Most recent numbers show there are 255 waterfront properties in Dryden while there are 76 in Fort Frances.
On average, a waterfront home in Fort Frances sells for $170,000 while one in Dryden sells for $190,000.
Penner noted that a quality classification MPAC uses also ranks Dryden homes slightly above those in Fort Frances. This is based on 256 factors, ranging from frontage, acreage, and topography to plumbing, and whether or not a property has a basement or front porch.
This quality ranking also ties into the total assessed value of the property.
Mayor Dan Onichuk noted that as a result of a building boom in Dryden in the late 1980s, that area naturally has more newer homes that Fort Frances.
Several councillors also asked whether factors such as renovations or location were considered in property assessments.
Councillors inquired as to if there’s any word on provincial tax reform (which would see unorganized areas pay their fair share of taxes), and why the paper mills in Kenora and Dryden are assessed at a higher value than the one here.
MPAC replied they would look into answering these questions.
Councillors also asked about the process property owners take when they ask for a reconsideration of assessment or appeal an assessment, and requested the town be “kept abreast” of when such motions are filed, said Mayor Onichuk.
“I think it’s prudent we’re aware of the reasons when there is any adjustments,” he remarked.
MPAC assured the town it would receive minutes of settlements in the case of property owners and MPAC coming to any decisions regarding adjustments to assessments.
After receiving the minutes, the town then would have 90 days to appeal such adjustments if it so chose.
McCaig noted MPAC’s reconsideration of local property assessments has resulted in unexpected revenue losses for the town, with several recently resulting in a total loss of $68,000.
This loss, in turn, affects the budget, which could not have accounted for unforeseen losses, especially when the town was alerted of the minutes of settlements after the fact.
Looking to the future, McCaig said he “could see us [the town] doing a more thorough investigation, and not just accepting MPAC’s ruling,” adding “maybe we’ll appeal some of them” (referring to adjustments to industrial and commercial property assessments, not residential).
Mayor Onichuk said Monday’s meeting was an opportunity for council to “get our heads around the way MPAC thinks,” and ask any questions they had about assessment matters.
But he noted Tuesday he felt the responses to the town’s inquires were “pretty generalized.”
“I still have a lot of questions,” he said. “But I think we’ve opened up a better line of communication.”
Penner and his fellow MPAC reps ended the meeting saying MPAC has an “open door policy,” and that the town could contact them any time with their concerns.
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
