Transparency, fairness vital in property tax assessments

THE EDITOR: The property tax is too harsh on the middle-aged, middle-income population.

The property tax assessments are out and on their way to homeowners. Many owners are receiving these notices of assessment with excitement, regaling on the bounties that could lie ahead from the potential increased rental of their property based on the government's rental valuation. Then reality sinks in. The rental market is already a competitive market place and that is what dictates what rent can be called for or realistically achieved.

The rental assessments being received by property owners are 20 to 30 per cent, and sometimes higher, than what can realistically be achieved. How can that be? Who is going to be disadvantaged? The property owner, the renter, or both? The bottom line is that the numbers are not adding up.

The renter is primarily the younger to middle-aged, middle-income earner and those are who will be impacted the most if applying exaggerated rental assessments to charge property tax.

The onus must be on the government, more specifically the Ministry of Finance, the Valuations Division, to provide transparency and evidence of how they arrived at these rental assessments. Each homeowner should be provided with the basis of evidence used to come up with the figures. The onus cannot be on the homeowner to provide evidence to disprove the rent assessed on the property by the ministry.

There should also be a public register of all properties identifying the assessed rental value to ensure transparency and fairness of the process. These assessed rental values must be realistic, considering all social and economic factors and not just be a theoretical exercise.

Get it together, Minister of Finance.

ROGER MARSHALL

via e-mail