The fall of 2020 was evidently a busier than normal time for the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC). With municipalities starving for revenue due to the shortfalls created by the Covid-19 pandemic, agents and consultants in the property tax field are reporting they have seen a far larger volume of Notices of Supplementary and/or Omitted Assessment issued by MPAC over the months of October and November, 2020.
These Notices typically add on increases in assessment to a property according to MPAC’s estimate of the value of any physical improvement or addition to a property, or legal change such as a change of use or zoning.
Often these Notices apply retroactively to one or both of 2019 and 2018 in addition to the year 2020.
It won’t be long before municipalities will issue supplementary tax bills for the additional assessments set out in the Notices. Depending on the amounts MPAC assessed, as well as their retroactive application, you/ your client as owner could be billed for taxes as high as or higher than the original tax bills.
The only protection you have from this prospect is to have a valid appeal in place against the Supplementary/ Omitted Assessment Notice. The additional assessment it sets out is MPAC’s opinion only and can be challenged in the same manner as a regular assessment. Possibly the validity of the Notice itself may be challenged.
If you or your client has received one of these Notices last October or November, there is still time (most likely) to lodge an appeal. This applies even if your property assessment appeal for 2020 was previously resolved one way or another. But you need to act quickly, as the statutory period to appeal is tight.
Anyone needing assistance should forward to me an electronic copy of the Supplementary/ Omitted Assessment Notice as soon as possible. If you have any questions related to the above, or any other property tax matter, please contact me at mss@steinberglaw.ca or call me at 416.557.7781