Report to: General Committee Date of Meeting: November 17, 2008

SUBJECT: November 2008 - Cancellation, Reduction or Refund of Taxes under Sections 357 and 358 of the Municipal Act, 2001)

PREPARED BY: Paul Wealleans, Director, Taxation

RECOMMENDATIONS:

THAT taxes totalling approximately $206,563.43 be adjusted under Section 357 (in the amount of $169,719.11) and Section 358 (in the amount of $36,844.32) of the Municipal Act, 2001 of which the Town’s portion is estimated to be $32,721.92;

AND THAT the associated interest be cancelled in proportion to the tax adjustments;

AND THAT the Treasurer be directed to adjust the Collector’s Roll accordingly;

AND THAT staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

1. Purpose 2. Background 3. Discussion 4. Financial 5. Environmental

6. Accessibility 7^. Engage ^21st 8. Affected Units 9. Attachment(s)

Not applicable.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to authorize the Treasurer to adjust the Collector’s Roll under Sections 357 and 358 of the Municipal Act, 2001 for properties located in the Town of Markham.

BACKGROUND:

Sections 357 and 358 of the Municipal Act, 2001 allow for the reduction, cancellation or refund of taxes. Section 357 permits tax adjustments for the following reasons:

* if a property or portion of a property is eligible to be reclassified in a different class of property, and that class has a lower tax ratio for the taxation year than the class the property or portion of the property was in before the change, and if no supplementary assessment is made in respect of the change under subsection 34(2) of the Assessment Act;

* property that has become vacant land or excess land during the year;

* property that has become exempt from taxation during the year;

* building that during the year was razed by fire, demolition or otherwise, or

was damaged by fire, demolition or otherwise so as to render it substantially unusable for the purposes for which it was used immediately prior to the damage;

* person who was unable to pay taxes because of sickness or extreme poverty;

* mobile unit that was removed from the municipality during the year;

* property overcharged by reason of any gross or manifest error that is a clerical error, the transposition of figures, a typographical error or similar type of error, but not an error in judgment in making the assessment upon which the taxes have been levied; or

* in respect of a property which by reason of repairs or renovations could not be used for its normal use for a period of at least three months during the year.

Section 358 of Municipal Act, 2001 permits applications for tax adjustment by property owners who are overcharged by reason of any gross or manifest error in the preparation of the assessment roll by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) that was an error of fact, which may include but is not limited to, clerical errors, the transposition of figure or typographical errors, but not an error in judgment in making the assessment upon which the taxes have been levied. These applications relate to taxes levied in each or either of the two years preceding the year in which the application is made.

The attached schedules identify the year of taxation, the assessment roll number of each property, the reason for the tax appeal and the tax adjustment. The tax value includes the Town, Region and School Board share of taxes. There are four main reasons for these applications: (1) “Became Exempt”- these are properties that were assessed on the assessment roll as taxable but became exempt during the year. They are properties that either were transferred during the year from a taxable owner to the Town and therefore became exempt from tax (generally lands as part of subdivision agreements) or lands purchased by a school board and became exempt; (2) “Demolished” which relates to the demolition of a building on a property that reduced the tax burden. All such applications include a Town Demolition Permit; (3) “Razed by Fire” which relates to fire damage of a building on a property that reduced the tax burden. All such applications include a fire/insurance report, and, (4) “Gross/manifest Error” that are the result of errors by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) on the assessment roll which caused an overcharge of taxes.

There are 5 applications listed that have no associated tax adjustment. These are applications reviewed by MPAC and determined to be not eligible for relief.

Tax Adjustments under Section 357 /358 of the Municipal Act
Town	$32,721.92
Region	$62,484.58
Education	$107,577.39
Capping / Clawback	$3,318.80
BIA – Unionville	$460.74
Total	$206,563.43

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

The amount of taxes adjusted for each of the Region and School Boards will be reflected on the 2008 payment submissions to these bodies.

The Town of Markham’s portion of these taxes for the four year period 2003 to 2008 is estimated to be $32,721.92.

FINANCIAL TEMPLATE:

Not applicable.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:

None

ACCESSIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS:

None

ENGAGE 21^st CONSIDERATIONS:

None

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

None

ATTACHMENTS:

Appendix A – “Tax Adjustments”

Appendix B – “Tax Adjustment Under Section 357 & Section 358 of the Municipal Act, 2001”

RECOMMENDED

BY: ______________________ ________________________

Barb Cribbett Andy Taylor

Treasurer Commissioner, Corporate

Services

Q:\Finance\SHARED\2008 General Committee Finance\859 Tax Cancellation under S 357 of Mun Act Commercial_Revised.doc

Appendix A
Tax Adjustments Under the Municipal Act
For November 17, 2008 General Committee Meeting
Finance Dept
Report Total
Count	Description	Amount
13	Become Exempt	-$137,266.70
10	Demolished	-$44,794.09
3	Razed by Fire	-$4,285.64
3	Gross / Manifest Error	-$5144.33
2	Re-Classification	-$15,072.67
5	No Recommendation	0
36	GRAND TOTAL	-$ 206,563.43

Appendix B

Tax Adjustments under the Municipal Act

For November 17, 2008 General Committee Meeting

Tax Appeals: Section 357 - Residential
Tax Year	Application
Year	Number		Roll Number		Property		Reason	Amount
2008	3363		010-030-72200		22 Deanbank Dr		Demolished	$ 3,748.06
2008	3450		010-040-09700		52 Kirk Dr		Demolished	$ 1,354.34
2008	3361		020-170-54600		8 Laurelleaf Rd		Demolished	$ 2,309.73
2008	3472		030-214-77314		200 Russell Jarvis Dr		Razed by Fire	$ 1,942.70
2008	3360		030-222-19200		20 Riverbend Rd		No Recommendation	$ -
2008	3376		030-225-96566		40 Long Island Cres		Razed by Fire	$ 1,450.55
2005	3490		030-233-45486		50 William Grant Rd		Assessment Error	$ 3,011.65
2007	3399		030-250-28100		7960 Steeles Ave E		No Recommendation	$ -
2008	3436		030-250-70820		0 Riverwalk Dr S/s		Exempt School	$ 17,482.95
2006	3304		030-252-91400		6780 14th Ave		No Recommendation	$ -
2008	3458		030-255-09197		0 Cornell Rouge Blvd		Exempt Town	$ 5,627.34
2008	3459		030-256-09202		0 Autumn Glow Dr		Exempt Town	$ 4,430.48
2008	3460		030-256-09207		0 Cornell Rouge Blvd		Exempt Town	$ 262.47
2008	3403		040-300-11200		25 Hawkridge Ave		Demolished	$ 1,041.28
2008	3377		040-300-11600		33 Hawkridge Ave		Demolished	$ 315.53
2008	3366		040-360-79400		37 Squire Baker Lane		Razed by Fire	$ 892.39
							Subtotal	$ 43,869.47
Tax Appeals: Section 357 – Non-Residential
Tax Year	Application
Year	Number		Roll Number		Property		Reason	Amount
2006	3236		020-111-21000		1 Steelcase Rd W		Re-Classification	$ 10,271.37
2006	3300		020-111-24800		2850 John St		Exempt Church	$ 22,965.44
2007	3470		020-121-41000		7095 Woodbine Ave		Demolished	$ 22,238.46
2007	3394		020-121-71800		691 Denison St		No Recommendation	$ -
2008	3395		020-121-71800		691 Denison St		No Recommendation	$ -
2007	3445		020-122-50000		7635 Woodbine Ave		Demolished	$ 2,441.26
2008	3443		020-122-50000		7635 Woodbine Ave		Demolished	$ 9,661.27
2008	3370		020-125-41000		1200 Denison St		Exempt Charity	$ 52,189.46
2008	3411		020-180-73100		159 Main St Union		Demolished	$ 1,281.08
2008	3365		040-280-04700		176 Main St Markham		Re-Classification	$ 4,801.30
							Subtotal	$125,849.64
							Total: Section 357	$ 169,719.11
Tax Appeals: Section 358 – Residential
		Application
Year		Number		Roll Number		Property	Reason	Amount
2007		3424		030-214-74650		24 Juneberry Ave	Exempt Town	$ 96.87
2007		3425		030-214-74850		6 Sandcherry Ave	Exempt Town	$ 87.18
2007		3426		030-214-74858		0 Buttonbush Ave Rr	Exempt Town	$ 63.66
2007		3427		030-214-75910		0 Russell Jarvis Dr	Exempt Town	$ 31.27
2007		3468		030-233-15195		194 Hammersley	Assessment Error	$ 1,938.80
2007		3454		030-234-03750		40 Glenhaven St	Assessment Error	$ 193.88
2007		3374		030-256-75000		228 Country Glen Rd	Exempt School	$ 7,938.83
							Subtotal	$ 10,350.49
Tax Appeals: Section 358 – Non- Residential
Tax Year		Application
Year		Number		Roll Number		Property	Reason	Amount
2005		3301		020-111-24800		2850 John St	Exempt Church	$ 23,626.07
2007		3422		020-127-21500		20 Main St	Exempt Town	$ 2,464.68
2007		3410		020-180-73100		159 Main St Union	Demolished	$ 403.08
							Subtotal	$ 26,493.83
							Total: Section 358	$ 36,844.32
							Grand Total:	$ 206,563.43