Star investigation reveals troubling tax trend hitting Toronto’s cheapest homes while mansions catch a break
Guest: Kenyon Wallace and Diana Zlomislic, investigative reporters
A new Star investigation has revealed that owners of some of Toronto’s cheapest homes might be paying disproportionately more in property taxes than those living in luxurious mansions. Analyzing roughly 12,000 homes sold in 2016, Star reporters found the burden of this tax inequality is shouldered by those with the least-expensive houses, while owners of some of the city’s richest homes in fancy neighbourhoods get a break. Who tallies up the bill? It is the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), a publicly funded agency, who carries the task of valuating properties for tax purposes. While the agency says their assessment process has already been extensively reviewed by several third-party evaluators, the Star’s data analysis revealed there are many over-assessed — and overtaxed — homeowners.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This podcast episode has been edited to clarify the deadlines involved in challenging a residential property assessment. In a non-reassessment year, the deadline to submit a request for reconsideration to the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation is March 31. In a reassessment year, that deadline is 120 days after a homeowner receives their notice. While homeowners can submit a request for reconsideration every year, if they miss the submission deadline, they cannot seek an adjustment for a previous year, only the current year.
This episode was produced by Saba Eitizaz, Brian Bradley and Sean Pattendon.