Did you know there is a simple and easy way to dispute your property taxes that could potentially save you hundreds or even thousand of dollars each year? I did and it worked for me. I simply disputing the assessed value of my home with MPAC and had them agree to a lower property value that in effect lower my annual taxes this year and every year thereafter.
First lets explain how your property taxes are derived.
Mill Rate The mill Rate is simply the tax rate levied on your property value, with one mill representing one tenth of one cent. So, for $1,000 of assessed property value, one mill would be equal to one dollar. Tax levies for each tax jurisdiction in an area are calculated separately and then all the levies are added together to determine the total mill rate for an entire region. Generally, the city, county and school district each have the power to levy against the properties in their boundaries. So each entity would calculate its required mill levy and it would all be tallied up to equal the total mill levy.
As an example of a mill rate calculation, suppose the total assessed property value in your municipality is $100,000,000, and the City decides it needs $1,000,000 in tax revenues to run the City. This would account for services such as garbage, police, fire protection, capital improvement projects including road improvements, snow removal and other municipal services and their salaries etc.
The mill rate would simply be $1,000,000 divided by $100,000,000, and equals 1%. Now, suppose the city and school district calculated a mill levy of 0.25% and .25% respectively. The total mill levy for the region would be 1.5% (1+0.25+.25) or 15 mills.
Assessed Value of Property – MPAC – (Municipal Property Assessment Corporation) Property taxes are calculated by taking the mill levy, like we’ve determined in the previous example, and multiplying it by the assessed value of your property. The assessed value is a yearly estimation performed to decide the reasonable market value for your home based upon prevailing local real estate market conditions.
The assessor will review all relevant information surrounding your property to make an estimate of the overall value. To provide you with the most accurate assessment, the assessor must look at what similar properties are selling for under the current market conditions, how much the replacement costs for the property would be, the maintenance costs for the property owner, if any improvements were completed, the amount of income you are making from the property, and the amount of interest charged to purchase or construct a property comparable to yours.
So from the Mill rate calculation above (1.5%) and say a property assessment of $300,000 your annual property taxes would amount to $4,500 ($300,000 x 1.5%) in this example.
So your annual property taxes are directly related to the value of your home. The lower the value of your home the lower the annual taxes.
How do you get MPAC to agree that your home is worth less than their estimate?
The MPAC website will allow you to research sale data of comparable properties in your neighbourhood. If you feel that homes similar to yours are selling for less than your assessed value you will have a very strong argument to have your assessed value lowered in effect lowering your annual taxes.
A simple phone call with an MPAC representative can make all this happen.
Click on this link for a step by step process that is easy to follow.
http://www.mpac.ca/property_owners/ResolvingAssessmentConcerns.asp
<p>If you are requiring help to determine the value estimate of your home feel free to call or text me for help. www.darick.ca or text 705 623 8658 provide me with your home address and I will do my best to assist you in a timely manner.