If you believe your Municipal Taxes are too high you may want to appeal. A ‘Request for Reconsideration’ must be made by March 31st of 2012. For more information go to – MPAC.ca – Remember it is the obligation of the Assessment Office in your area to prove your assessment is fair. This decision was made after 11,000 Muskoka property owners who had appealed their taxes after the Assessment Office for the District of Muskoka went to a ‘Market Value Assessment’. Property owners noted time and again to the Chairman of the hearings that they were not prepared or could not prepare for such a hearing due to the lack of informatiion available to them. Owners were frustrated by their inability to debate issues such as the Assessment Office being allowed to base assessments for a community or an entire lake, as they did for Kahshe Lake, on just one sale. The onus previously was on the property owner to prove their property was worth less than their assessment. The onus has changed. If you appeal the local office will make an appointment with you and view your property and provide you with the reasons they have evaluated your property at that level. They are generally fair and will often provide a modest reductiion just to avoid the longer process of the appeal to the Chairman. Muskoka Real Estate Services Inc. will provide a ‘Letter of Opinion’ in regard to the value of your property for about $350.00. ( exceptions apply ).
