Northern tax grab: Part 1: the first of a three-part series taking a look at inequities in property tax assessments in the North.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: Issue of the Month

A North Bay taskforce seeking fair market value tax assessment for commercial and industrial properties is not hopeful of meaningful change with the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. (MPAC) or its method of evaluation anytime soon.

Gord Cardwell, president of C & C Properties Inc. in North Bay, and a member of the taskforce, says his group is fighting a losing battle with MPAC in asking for fairness, and is seeking change at the legislative level when his group reconvenes this fall.

Cardwell says assessment increases have corroded efforts by the city to reduce taxes. Assets have been overvalued, as the bureaucrats stand by their formulas and government manuals for evaluating property in the North at southern Ontario values.

"It is very frustrating" dealing with MPAC bureaucrats, says Cardwell. "Ultimately something will have to happen at a legislative level that there will have to be a mandate for a revolutionary approach to it."

The Harris government attempted to eliminate business occupancy tax (business property tax paid directly to the city), but instead the province opted for market value assessment, Cardwell says.

"The intention was good, but the details got badly messed up."

Cardwell says the re-assessment method designed to harmonize bases across Ontario has only brought southern Ontario property values to the struggling Northern Ontario market.

City by city, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is finding cases of distortions between business and residential property taxes in Ontario.

In August, they released a report showing many commercial and industrial class businesses in the North were paying substantially higher taxes than residential properties.

In North Bay, commercially zoned businesses were paying three times more than an equally valued residence, and those in the industrial class were paying 2.9 times more.

The CFIB notes that residential properties account for 74 per cent of the total property value, because of the tax rates they enjoy, they only contribute 58 per cent of the city's tax revenue. Commercial properties - offices, retailers, shopping centres - which account for only 16.4 per cent of property values, shoulder more than 25 per cent of the bill.

Cardwell is equally frustrated with the municipality and the finger-pointing exercises that go on as municipal councillors blame the province and...