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Residential Property Tax Bill Please click for Information

The Tax Rate for 2008 Final rate set Feb 12, 2008

Interim Property Tax Bills Update January 2008

Supplementary Tax Bills Update August 2007

Information about your 2007 the final tax bill

The Town of Markham is committed to keeping taxpayers updated on the issues that affect them. The 2007 Operating Budget enables the Town to provide residents with a healthy, well planned and economically vibrant community. This is the greenest budget Markham has ever produced. At the same time, finding value for tax dollars was one of our most important guiding principles. With this year's budget we continue to maintain and improve our service levels for fire, parks, recreation and roads, while accommodating for growth. We addressed the environmental initiatives and transportation needs. Our budget builds on our quality communities and maintains the commitment to diversity.

The 2007 Operating Budget is $151.4 million, the Capital Budget is $50.1 million and the Building Standards Budget is $8 million, for a total of $301 million. Overall, Council approved a modest tax increase of 3.98% on the Markham portion of the tax bill ($.77 per week for the average home valued at $403,000). Markham's tax rate increase is the lowest for the urban municipalities in York Region and one of the lowest in the Greater Toronto Area. The average impact for residents is $40.20 on the Markham share of the tax bill.

2007 Interim Property Tax Bills - Markham Property Owners

The 2007 interim property tax bills will be in the mail starting the week of January 8th. For each property, Interim Taxes are based on 50% of last year’s taxes. For new properties that were not on last year’s assessment roll, Interim Taxes are based on the new assessment multiplied by 50% of last year’s tax rate.   

There are a total of 81,398 tax bills of which 21,188 (or 26%) are paid through the Town’s Pre-Authorized Payment Plan (tax amount is automatically withdrawn from owner’s bank account). The balance of 60,210 bills are regular installment accounts.

The due dates for the 60,210 regular bills are:

February 20th

March 20th

April 24th

The due dates for the Pre-Authorized Payment Plan are:

February 1st

March 1st

April 1st

May 1st

June 1st

The final tax rates and levies will be established following budget approval and tax rate approval by the Town, Region and School boards and will be billed in June 2007.

There is no Province wide re-assessment this year so assessed values for the 2007 tax year will be based on the 2006 values (which were used for 2006).  The Municipal Property assessment Corporation (MPAC) is responsible for the determination of assessment of all properties in Ontario.  for specific information about your property assessments, please call MPAC at 1-366-296-MPAC (6722)

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What if I don't agree with my Assessment?

If you don't agree with your assessment, you have until  April 2 2007 to file a complaint with the Assessment Review Board.  A free request for reconsideration of your property's value can be filed with MPAC by calling 1-366-296-MPAC (6722).  If you can't come to an agreement, or if you are past the deadline, you can file a complaint with the board.  The complaint will then be heard in a court like setting before a member of the board. 

I strongly suggest that you try to have your property's value reconsidered before you file, as it is less formal and in most cases will achieve what you want.  The web site for MPAC is http://www.mpac.ca/

How Long will my Review take?

Unfortunately, it can take from a few months up to a year for a hearing to get scheduled by the ARB. It doesn't seem to be resident friendly, I admit, but it depends on the backlog and the number of appeals filed. It also has nothing to do with the Town as the ARB is an independent tribunal of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General. I do sympathize with the delay but there is not a lot the Town can do.

In the last Provincial budget, the government intends to review the parallel appeals of a Request for Reconsideration (through MPAC) and the formal appeal through the ARB. The Provincial Government has not yet decided how this streamlining can be accomplished but they are working on it so it is recognized as a problem.

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Where Do Our Taxes Go?

Most citizens don’t hate taxes. They hate taxes being wasted. I will use my years of practical business experience to ensure that your hard earned tax dollars are spent wisely.

Markham has a history of very competitive tax rates. By cutting red tape and through careful scrutiny, we will be able to enjoy reasonable tax rates without affecting the quality of service from the Town.

I will ensure that Ward Five gets its fair share of the dollars spent on our parks, our roads, our safety and our infrastructure.

The change to the Current Value Assessment system of taxation needs to be watched carefully to minimize the impact of the actual tax paid due to the market-driven increases in home values. The tax system needs to be clear and easy to understand, so we can feel confident that we are not being hoodwinked by suspect accounting practices.

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Supplementary Tax Bills Update August 2007

Supplementary tax bills are being mailed on August 17, 2007 to residential property owners in the Town of Markham for supplementary or omitted assessments for the tax years 2005, 2006 and 2007. 

These tax bills reflect additional assessment to properties that were not included on the year-end assessment rolls for 2005, 2006 and 2007 tax years by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).  All property owners would have been sent a supplementary assessment notice by MPAC that would have indicated the additional assessment, the appeal deadline and an MPAC contact if additional assessment information were required.

The three installment dates for payment of these supplementary taxes are September 19, 2007, November 13, 2007, and January 1, 2008.  For Pre-authorized Tax Accounts the due dates are as follows:  October 1, November 1, December 1, February 1, March 1 and April 1.

Approximately 340 properties are affected; some with multiple year supplementary assessments.  All property owners would have been sent a supplementary assessment notice by MPAC that would have indicated the additional assessment, the appeal deadline and an MPAC contact if additional assessment information were required.

Should you require clarification or additional information, please contact Miranda Miluzzi, Manager Tax /Cash Management at 905-477-7000 ext 4726

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2008 Interim Property Tax Bills

The 2008 Interim Pre-Authorized Payment property tax bills will be in the mail on January 11, 2008. The balance of the bills will be mailed the week of January 21, 2008.  For each property, Interim Taxes are based on 50% of last year’s taxes. For new properties that were not on last year’s assessment roll, Interim Taxes are based on the new assessment multiplied by 50% of last year’s tax rate.   

There are a total of 84,045 tax bills of which 22,194 (or 26%) are paid through the Town’s Pre-Authorized Payment Plan (tax amount is automatically withdrawn from owner’s bank account). The balance of 61,851 bills is regular installment accounts.

The due dates for the Pre-Authorized Payment Plan are:

February 1st

March 1st

April 1st

May 1st

June 1st

The due dates for the 61,851 regular bills are:

February 20th

March 19th

April 23rd

The final tax rates and levies will be established following budget approval and tax rate approval by the Town, Region and School boards and will be billed in June 2008.

There is no Province wide re-assessment this year so assessed property values for the 2008 tax year will be based on 2005 values (which were used for 2007). The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is responsible for the determination of assessment of all properties in Ontario. Should you receive an inquiry relating to property assessments, please direct them to MPAC at 1-866-296-MPAC (6722).  

Should you require any additional information or clarification, please do not hesitate to contact Miranda Miluzzi, Manager, Tax & Cash Management at 905-477-7000 ext 4726 or Paul Wealleans, Director of Taxation at 905-475-4734 or email: pwealleans@markham.ca

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The Tax Rate for 2008

February 12, 2008

I am proud to have been a part of the Budget Subcommittee and to be able to announce that we've held the Tax Rate for 2008 to a 3.7% increase, one of the lowest in the Greater Toronto Area. The increase represents an increase on the Markham's share of the tax bill to an average homeowner of $39.20.

Please click here for the full story.

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2008 Residential Property Tax Bill

June 11, 2008

The 2008 Residential Tax Bills will be in the mail between June 11th and June 24th .

he total number of tax bills to be mailed is 79,596 of which 57,038 (or 72%) are regular installment bills and 22,558 (or 28%) are Pre-authorized Payment (PTP).  The PTP bills will be mailed by June 11th and the regular bills by June 24th.

The 57,038 regular installment bills have 3 installment dates of July 22, August 19 and September 23.

For the 22,558 Pre-authorized Payment (PTP) accounts, the remaining due dates are: July 1, August 1, September 1, October 1, November 1 and December 1.  PTP accounts allow the Town to withdraw the tax amount directly from the homeowner’s bank account on the first day of each month.

The bills reflect the total 2008 tax levy less the interim taxes levied in February 2008 and include the share for the Town, Region and school boards. Included in the bills is a brochure that provides additional information on this year’s budget, current value assessment, payment options, etc. Also included in the regular installment bills is a PTP application form to encourage future enrolment in the PTP plan.

The 2008 commercial, industrial and multi-residential tax bills will be mailed in September.

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