- 注册
- 2004-10-24
- 消息
- 10,062
- 荣誉分数
- 1,881
- 声望点数
- 373
OTTAWA — The average value of an Ottawa home has gone up 24 per cent over the past four years, says the province’s property-assessment corporation.
That sets a new baseline for property taxes for the four years to come. In short, if you own a home whose value has increased exactly 24 per cent, your taxes won’t change. If your home’s value has risen more than 24 per cent, your property taxes will go up. If your home’s value has risen less than 24 per cent, your property taxes will go down. Either way, the change will be made one step at a time over the next four years.
That change will happen automatically and separately from property-tax increases voted by city council in each year’s budget. The goal is to make sure the city’s take from property taxes stays the same while the burden is shifted so people whose properties are worth the most pay the most.
A memo from deputy city treasurer Ken Hughes, the city’s chief tax collector, to city councillors Wednesday morning spells that out in numerous ways.
“It is the relationship to the Ottawa average increase of 24 per cent that is important for each property,” he wrote. “Property owners who have an increase in assessment over the four years of 24 per cent will see an increase in their municipal taxes equal to any budgetary increase that may be approved by City Council.” Greater value increases than that mean higher taxes, lower value increases mean lower taxes, even if a property’s value has still increased.
The system works against the city government’s goal of getting more people living downtown. The report from the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. (MPAC) says that property-value increases are concentrated there — downtown neighbourhoods tend not to be not just more expensive than suburban ones, but the gap is growing, the report says. Downtown amenities and congestion in traffic crossing the Greenbelt make the city’s more distant suburbs relatively less desirable, the report says.
Meanwhile, “boutique” neighbourhoods, such as the Glebe, have experienced above average increases in prices. As well, Westboro and other areas close to downtown Ottawa have experienced above average increases in price. Infill properties, on which people can build custom homes, are also in demand.”
The property-tax system is based on the idea that the value of a person’s property is a decent proxy for his or her wealth, though it’s a poor proxy for his or consumption of city services. The city considers denser neighbourhoods cheaper to serve with everything from sewer pipes to libraries to police, but residents of denser neighbourhoods tend to pay higher taxes. And often, people who’ve lived in their homes for decades while the city has grown around them pay high taxes even though most of their worth is tied up in those houses and the only way to get at it is to sell.
Updating the assessments every four years instead of every year — the way MPAC used to do it — is a small move toward reform. It’s meant to smooth out the effects of property-value changes, so at least they’ll be predictable.
Individual homeowners should expect mailings from the corporation about their particular properties in the fall, it says.
Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/busine...r+four+years/6987867/story.html#ixzz21fA8v6pf
That sets a new baseline for property taxes for the four years to come. In short, if you own a home whose value has increased exactly 24 per cent, your taxes won’t change. If your home’s value has risen more than 24 per cent, your property taxes will go up. If your home’s value has risen less than 24 per cent, your property taxes will go down. Either way, the change will be made one step at a time over the next four years.
That change will happen automatically and separately from property-tax increases voted by city council in each year’s budget. The goal is to make sure the city’s take from property taxes stays the same while the burden is shifted so people whose properties are worth the most pay the most.
A memo from deputy city treasurer Ken Hughes, the city’s chief tax collector, to city councillors Wednesday morning spells that out in numerous ways.
“It is the relationship to the Ottawa average increase of 24 per cent that is important for each property,” he wrote. “Property owners who have an increase in assessment over the four years of 24 per cent will see an increase in their municipal taxes equal to any budgetary increase that may be approved by City Council.” Greater value increases than that mean higher taxes, lower value increases mean lower taxes, even if a property’s value has still increased.
The system works against the city government’s goal of getting more people living downtown. The report from the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. (MPAC) says that property-value increases are concentrated there — downtown neighbourhoods tend not to be not just more expensive than suburban ones, but the gap is growing, the report says. Downtown amenities and congestion in traffic crossing the Greenbelt make the city’s more distant suburbs relatively less desirable, the report says.
Meanwhile, “boutique” neighbourhoods, such as the Glebe, have experienced above average increases in prices. As well, Westboro and other areas close to downtown Ottawa have experienced above average increases in price. Infill properties, on which people can build custom homes, are also in demand.”
The property-tax system is based on the idea that the value of a person’s property is a decent proxy for his or her wealth, though it’s a poor proxy for his or consumption of city services. The city considers denser neighbourhoods cheaper to serve with everything from sewer pipes to libraries to police, but residents of denser neighbourhoods tend to pay higher taxes. And often, people who’ve lived in their homes for decades while the city has grown around them pay high taxes even though most of their worth is tied up in those houses and the only way to get at it is to sell.
Updating the assessments every four years instead of every year — the way MPAC used to do it — is a small move toward reform. It’s meant to smooth out the effects of property-value changes, so at least they’ll be predictable.
Individual homeowners should expect mailings from the corporation about their particular properties in the fall, it says.
Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/busine...r+four+years/6987867/story.html#ixzz21fA8v6pf
