Report to: General Committee Report Date: April 20, 2009

SUBJECT: May 2009 - Cancellation, Reduction or Refund of Taxes under Sections 357 and 358 of the Municipal Act, 2001

PREPARED BY: Paul Wealleans, Director Taxation (ext 4734)

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1) THAT the taxes totalling $19,060.37 be adjusted under Section 357 (in the amount of $12,535.37) and Section 358 (in the amount of $6,525.00) of the Municipal Act, 2001 of which the Town’s portion is estimated to be $3,505.29;

2) AND THAT the associated interest is cancelled in proportion to the tax adjustments;

3) AND THAT the Treasurer be directed to adjust the Collector’s Roll accordingly:

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

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Not Applicable.

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

5. Others (HR, Strategic, Affected Units) 6. Attachment(s)

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 the tax years 2006 to 2008.

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 a 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.

OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:

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 three main reasons for these applications: (1) “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; (2) “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; (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) “Property Class Change” being change of tax class.

There are three 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	$ 3,505.29
Region	$ 6,676.88
Education	$ 8,876.25
Fed Of Agric	$ 1.95
Total	$19,060.37

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND TEMPLATE: (external link)

The amount of taxes adjusted for each of the Region and School Boards will be reflected on the 2009 payment submissions to these bodies.

The Town of Markham’s portion of these taxes for the three year period 2006 to 2008 is $3,505.29.

HUMAN RESOURCES CONSIDERATIONS

Not Applicable.

ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:

Not Applicable.

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

Not Applicable.

RECOMMENDED

BY: ________________________ ________________________

Barb Cribbett Andy Taylor

Treasurer Commissioner, Corporate Services

ATTACHMENTS:

Appendix A – “Tax Adjustments”

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

Q:\Finance\SHARED\2009 General Committee Finance\922 Tax Cancellation under S 357 of Mun Act.doc

Appendix A Tax Adjustments Under the Municipal Act For May 11, 2009 General Committee Meeting Report Total
Property Count	Description	Amount
8	Demolished	-$10,581.43
3	Gross/Manifest Error	-$2,566.56
2	Fire	-$614.43
1	Property Class Change	-$5,198.62
1	Became Exempt	-$99.33
3	No Recommendation	0
18	Total	-$19,060.37

Appendix B Tax Adjustments under the Municipal Act
For May 11, 2009 General Committee Meeting
Tax Appeals: Section 357/358
		Application		Roll
Tax Year		Number		Number	Address		Reason			Amount
Section 358
2006	3511		020-133-62000			9250 Warden Ave		Gross/Manifest Error	-$ 2,292.28
2006	3259		030-211-81408			152 Elson		Gross/Manifest Error	-$ 79.05
			Total 2006					$ -	-$ 2,371.33
2007	3473		030-237-07800			10235 Highway 48		Gross/Manifest Error	-$ 195.23
			Total 2007						-$ 195.23
Section 357
Year	App #		Roll Number			Property		Reason	Amount
2007	3346		030-233-68100			9999 Highway 48		Property Class Change	-$ 5,198.62
			Total 2007						-$ 5,198.62
2008	3542		010-010-49300			103 Grandview		Demolished	-$ 314.01
2008	3547		010010-49400			105 Grandview		Demolished	-$ 346.49
2008	3461		010-022-34300			35 Pheasant Valley		Fire	-$ 614.43
2008	3482		020-132-80000			11 Butonville Cres		Demolished	-$ 443.93
2008	3518		020-170-96700			4 Multifora Pl		Demolished	-$ 96.56
2008	3484		030-220-09300			7 Main St Unionville		Demolished	-$ 828.60
2008	3483		030-220-09500			13 Main St Unionville		Demolished	-$ 1,115.74
2008	3488		030-221-74200			8 Oakcrest Ave		Demolished	-$ 475.03
2008	3428		030-267-03500			0 Ninth Line E/S		Exempt to Town	-$ 99.33
2008	3616		030-223-54000			5000 Highway 7		Fire	-$ 6,434.58
2008	3530		040-360-67900			68 Squire Baker’s Lane		Demolished	-$ 526.49
			TOTAL 2008						-$ 11,295.19
No Recommendation
2007	3526		030-260-44680			2431 Bur Oak Ave		Gross/Manifest Error	$ -
2008	3494		030-214-77312			202 Russell Jarvis Dr		Fire	$ -
2008	3495		030-214-77316			198 Russell Jarvis Dr		Fire	$ -

Total Applications: 18

Section 358	-$2,566.56
Section 357	-$16,493.81
Total	-$19,060.37