Finance and Administrative Committee

 

 

 

 

 

TO:

Mayor and Members of Council

 

 

 

 

FROM:

Barb Cribbett, Treasurer

 

 

 

 

PREPARED BY:

Paul Wealleans, Director, Taxation

 

 

 

 

DATE OF MEETING:

2004-May-17

 

 

 

 

SUBJECT:

2004 Tax Rates and Levy By-law

 

 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

THAT a by-law to provide for the levy and collection of property taxes totalling $378,593,171 required by the Town of Markham, Regional Municipality of York, Boards of Education, and to provide for the mailing of notices requesting payment of taxes for the year 2004, be approved.

 

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to obtain authorization for the adoption of the tax rates for the 2004 tax year for the levy requirements of the Town of Markham, Region of York and the school boards.

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

This report sets out the tax rates and levy requirements for the Town of Markham, Region of York and the school boards for the 2004 tax year.

 

BACKGROUND:

The Municipal Act provides that the Council of a local municipality shall, after the adoption of estimates for the year, pass a by-law to levy a separate tax rate upon all property assessed in the local municipality rateable for local municipal purposes, upper tier purposes and education purposes as may be appropriate.

 

OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:

Council has approved its 2004 Budget estimates for Town services requiring property taxes to be levied as follows:

 

2004 Town of Markham Tax Levy:                                         $75,376,624

                        2004 Old Markham Village BIA Budget:                                     $162,332

                        2004 Unionville BIA Budget:                                                       $135,000

 

 

 

 

The Regional Municipality of York has approved its 2004 Budget estimates requiring property taxes to be levied as follows:

                        2004 Region of York total requisition:                                   $512,751,000

                        2004 Town of Markham % share:                                                  28.49%

                        2004 Town of Markham $ share:                                          $146,084,239

 

All the required regulations establishing the tax rates for the levy of 2004 property taxes for education purposes have been passed by the Province and received by the Municipality.  The total levy to be raised for 2004 education purposes is $157,132,308.

 

The tax instalment due dates for the residential class will be July 20, August 17 and September 21. However, as in the past, the added complexities for the non–residential classes related to provincially legislated requirements, will result in the non-residential properties to be billed later in 2004.  The tax instalment due dates for Commercial, Industrial and Multi-Residential will be October 20, November 17 and December 15.

 

The 2003 Province-wide reassessment for the 2004 tax year resulted in an average increase of 12.41% for all property tax classes in the Town of Markham. The average 2004 assessment increase for the residential class is 15.01%. The tax rate was decreased, as a result of the assessment increases, and then adjusted for a 3.9% tax levy increase, as approved by Town of Markham Council.  The Town’s 2004 residential tax rate will be 0.251221%.

 

The final 2004 tax rates for comparable municipalities have not yet been set, however, the following provides a comparison of budgetary increases for 2004:

Markham:                     3.9%

Richmond Hill:  5.89%

Stouffville:                     8.90%

Toronto:                       3.0%

Mississauga:                 3.8%

Oakville:                       5.4%

York Region:                6.3%

 

On April 29, 2004 York Regional Council approved increasing the tax ratios for the commercial and industrial property classes. The Minister of Finance must authorize this change in tax ratios before final tax rates can be struck by both the Region and the Town. The Ministry has been provided with the Region’s request and have confirmed that the Minister’s approval will not be delayed as he is aware of the tight timelines for tax rate approval and mailing of tax bills. However, as of the date of this report, Minister approval has not been received. The tax rates for the Town and Region included in this report and bylaw are based on the changed tax ratios. Until such approval is received, these tax rates cannot be adopted by Council.  It is expected that by the time this report comes before Town Council, the Minister’s approval will have been received and the Region will have adopted its tax rates. The Region is scheduled to approve its rates at its meeting of May 20, 2004.    

 

 

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

The proposed tax rates have been calculated to achieve the tax revenue requirements of the 2004 budgets, as approved by Town of Markham Council and the Region of York Council. The education tax rates are established by regulations issued by the Province of Ontario.

 

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

None.

 

ATTACHMENTS:

Appendix A is a draft by-law for the levy and collection of sums required by the Town of Markham for the 2004 tax year.

Appendix B is a summary of the tax rates required to levy property taxes for 2004.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Wealleans, Director, Taxation

 

Andy Taylor, Commissioner, Corporate Services

 

 

 

____________________________________

Barbara Cribbett, Treasurer

 

 

 

 

 

Q:\Finance and Administration\Finance\SHARED\2004 Finance_Admin Cttee Reports\0437 - 2004 Final Tax Levy Report.doc