The Town of Fort Frances is trying to get a date set to speak with a representative from the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. regarding differences in assessments between here and Dryden, Mayor Dan Onichuk said Tuesday.
The inequity came to light at a special committee of the whole meeting April 22, when town treasurer Peggy Dupuis (as requested by council as part of the 2004 budget process) brought forward figures comparing what other regional municipalities pay in taxes.
This revealed the total difference in assessed property value between Dryden and Fort Frances is to the tune of $100 million.
Using a base figure of $100,000 for different sectors (residential, commercial, etc.), Dupuis discovered that, on average, a home in Dryden is assessed at a higher value than a comparative one here.
Mayor Onichuk said he had a difficult time believing a home in Fort Frances valued at $120,000 would be valued at $150,000 in Dryden.
Having lower assessed values translates into restricting the town’s potential to raise money through property taxes, he added. For instance, a tax rate in Dryden would reap more money than an equal tax rate in Fort Frances.
Thus to get the same amount of money out of the property owner, the tax in Fort Frances inevitably would have to be higher.
At that April 22 meeting, Coun. Roy Avis said the previous council had hired consultant Peter West to find this out a year-and-a-half ago, after a study by the Municipal Tax Equity Consultants showed “tremendous inequities in commercial assessments” here.
But as to what the end result of that work was, Coun. Avis said he’s never found out.
“We have to find out what happened? Find out what the results were, and do something with that,” vowed Mayor Onichuk.
“This is sending up all sorts of red flags,” Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig said at that time.
Fort Frances Times
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