KENORA – If inflation on gas, food, and mortgage rates aren’t enough, residents in the unincorporated areas around the Kenora district are bracing themselves for a land tax bomb.
As we are aware, provincial land tax contributes to local services in the unincorporated areas across Northern Ontario. This includes funding for local policing, land ambulance, roads, fire protection, social services, public health unit services and ancillary services including waste disposal sites, fire suppression on Crown Land, Crown Land management and administration and assessment costs.
Most of these services in the municipalities are delivered through the locally elected government, but for those living outside of the municipalities, the province acts as the de facto municipal government through its ministries, district-level public agencies and government-sanctioned local service and road boards.
The 2013-2017 reforms were designed to reach a level of local tax support comparable to municipalities where property taxpayers fund roughly 50 per cent of local costs.
However, in a recent release put out by District of Kenora Unincorporated Areas Ratepayers Association, the impact of a looming province-wide property re-assessment in 2024 could see another 50 per cent provincial land tax hike.
Due to COVID relief measures, assessments and the residential education rates have been frozen three years past their normal scheduled updating: therefore, the Provincial Land Tax is past its finalized universal rate.
In the past, the DoKura says,” the Territories Without Municipal Organization, or TWOMO, areas since 2000, indicate a 20 per cent to 40 per cent value increase, the following year, 2025, a new assessment cycle begins, likely repeating the assessment increases.
Under current regulations, when updated assessments take effect in 2024, the provincial land tax collections will jump up as assessment increases.
In dollars, the impact averages $400 per property across the TWOMO, which will jump to $600, possibly $800 by 2025-2026.
Consequently, this tax hike will push the TWOMO local service contribution to as much as 100 per cent of costs or more.
Mainly, the provincial land tax will concern the Kenora – Rainy River and Thunder Bay districts. However, many high-value waterfront properties pay $1,200 to $1,500. The increase will affect everyone.
Even those whose properties are worth $250 in provincial land taxes, residents will have the same increase as the militia-million dollar home or cottages when the 2024 assessment concludes.
DoKURA informs that the 2024 tax year is now only 18 months away.
And they are urging the public to contact your local MPP to make them aware that a tax hike is unnecessary
