Let's Talk Property Taxes. How Are They Calculated? I Know Boring!
Posted: April 29, 2019 by Kathleen Taylor
But relevant. I hear all the time, my basement is finished so my taxes are higher, my driveway is concrete so my taxes are higher, I have a fenced yard, so my taxes are higher, I live in Niagara on the Lake so my taxes are higher.
I could make this blog post very very short and say, your taxes are not based on those things or others. They are based solely on the value of your home. An easy peasy equation is as follows; the value of your home multiplied by the mill rate of the city your in = your property tax.
That equation obviously has more values that affect it, dig deep enough and yes, the finished basement does indirectly affect your taxes because it increases the value of your home, however what you need to keep in mind is that location has the largest impact on the value of your home, so essentially living in Niagara on the Lake where the home values are high, increases the property tax you pay vs living in Port Colborne where property values are reasonable, then therefore are your property taxes and this holds true for the entire Province.
Here are the mill rates (tax rates) for cities in The Region in 2015, 2016 and 2017 for your comparison.
Niagara on the Lake has the lowest mill rates however, they also have the highest values so in theory that evens out the tax costs.
Now another caveat to understanding the tax process. The “Province” thru MPAC (Municipal Property Assessment Corporation) MPAC assesses properties in the Province every 5 Years with the last assessment being 2016. For those of you here in Niagara that means they were assessed prior to the big inflation of property values so your 2017 tax value was technically assessed in 2016 before property values increased by a whopping 30% approx. You can check that thru the mpac link above. The next time our properties will be assessed will be in 2021.
So, lets do some real life calculations based on average home prices for each area for 2017
I didn’t calculate for Grimsby because our Association Stats group Grimsby as Lincoln and each area has its own mill rate not a combined one so I couldn’t get a true value for taxes for just Grimsby alone.
So, from looking at these graphs you can clearly tell that taxes are relatively equal around the Region and, if you choose to live in an area where your home values are higher you will pay a higher tax based on that value not on the basement alone or pool in the yard. Location Location Location once again has a major factor in real estate and in this case it’s in the value of the home and coincidently the amount of tax you will pay.
Here is the link to the Niagara Regional Property Tax Calculator
And I have also included this easy video to help understand mill rates
Once again I hope I’ve simplified a statement I hear a dozen times a week, my taxes are high because…….
The only reason is value of property!
KT over and out!