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Feature Article January 22

Feature Article January 22, 2004

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MPAC and bag tags at Addington Highlands Council Jan. 19, 2004

At the Addington Highlands Council meeting on Monday night, MPAC representative Cecilia Buelow gave a presentation to Council on: the reassessment cycle; assessment values; woodlots; and seasonal trailers.

Since the provincial election last year, there have been lobbying efforts to change the reassessment cycle to two years instead of one a change which Ms. Buelow said MPAC staff would welcome, as it would give them a bit of a breather.

Last year AH ratepayers filed 174 appeals for reconsideration of their property assessments, resulting in a reduction of $801,000 in assessment values. So far in 2004, 95 appeals have already been filed. Buelow said that although the public perception of property assessments is that they only go up, in fact, of the roughly 3800 properties in the municipality, 820 have decreased in value.

When Councillor Cox asked how MPAC comes up with, for example, waterfront property values, Buelow answered that MPAC analyses good sales (as opposed to forced sales from bankruptcies) in the immediate area of the property in question, and applies those values. They also give consideration to other factors such as square footage, waterfront quality, etc. Buelow said that Current Value Assessment is based on mass, not individual appraisals, and cautioned ratepayers against going to the expense of hiring appraisers to prove that their property assessments should be lowered, as they might not see any reductions.

Buelow spoke briefly on MPACs new policy of applying market value assessments to woodlots in the Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program. There are 40-50 such properties in the municipality. (Jeff Im editorializing) Without addressing the contradiction in taking the tax incentive out of a tax incentive program, Buelow said the change came about because it wasnt fair to have one property [in the MFTIP] paying very low taxes, while the taxes on another woodlot of the same size, right beside it, were much higher. She also said that, contrary to rumours, we are not out counting or scaling trees.

New assessments of campgrounds and trailer parks have added $4 million to the municipalitys total assessments. Councillor Berger asked if every one of those establishments had received additional assessments for 2003. Buelow replied that they had not yet, but that in May, MPAC would continue with the reassessments, and that any that had been missed would be taxed retroactively to Jan. 1, 2003. Buelow gave some of the criteria MPAC uses for deciding whether a trailer was permanent such as whether the tow tongue had been removed; whether they were wider than 8 6; whether permanent decks or sheds had been built on. Councillors questioned the fairness of hitting trailer park owners with extra tax bills after their tenants had left, but were told that was really up to the municipality to deal with.

Township Clerk Jack Pauhl brought up the fact that in the last election, the owners of the trailers in campgrounds had been put on the voters lists, but their addresses were c/o the campground. Pauhl said in one case, over 100 ballots came back. Buelow said that by the next election MPAC would try to have the proper addresses.

In speaking of assessments for maple syrup producers, Buelow assured councillors that if they were boiling syrup in a sugar shack in their back yards, MPAC wouldnt look twice at them. However, in large operations, the buildings where the boiling and bottling take place are now taxed as industrial structures. There are no large maple syrup producers in Addington Highlands.

Buelows closing advice to councilors was that if ratepayers call about increased assessments, councilors should ask them if the assessed value is what they would have received for their property if they had sold it. She advised anyone filing an appeal for reconsideration to state the reason specifically, such as: My assessment is too high because my water is contaminated, as opposed to, My assessment is incorrect because my taxes are too high.

Mondays presentation was primarily an information session for AH Council, which is still planning to set up public meetings with MPAC in Flinton and Denbigh. A meeting, open to the public, between MPAC and the Ontario Private Campground Owners Association is scheduled at the Barrie Township Hall for Feb. 13. (could omit)

BAG TAGS: There was much discussion of a recommendation by the Waste Management Committee to increase bag tag fees from $1 to $2. Reeve Hook, arguing for the higher fee, said that since the system was introduced in August 2002, recycling had increased from 60 tons to 260 tons. He said that those who recycle would really not be paying much more, because they receive free bag tags in exchange for recyclables; whereas those who refuse to recycle and are filling up the dumps would and should be the ones to pay. He said it is only a matter of time before the municipality is ordered to close dumps; one may be already full. While it was agreed that reducing waste is a high priority, Councilors Cox and Scott felt that the increase was too high and they were not sure that it would increase recycling. Councilor Grant felt that the system should stay the same since it was having good results. Councilor Berger supported the increase.

Two members of the audience spoke up on the issue. Bill Brown reminded council that a consultant had found that recycling still wasnt being properly done. Elinore Duncan said that the dump closure fund needed as much revenue as possible, and that $2 was not an exorbitant fee.

In the end, the bag tag increase to $2 was defeated in a 3-2 vote, but a second motion to do further study on an increase was passed.

EMERGENCY PLANS: Gary & Ruby Malcolm sent a letter to Council, asking them to consider buying a generator for the Denbigh Hall. The letter stated that after the last outage, they learned that people were staying in their cars with the motors running to keep warm. We hope to be able to stop a tragedy by giving people an alternate plan.

The Northern Lights Seniors have been gathering names of people who might be in danger during outages, and the list will be given to Fire Chief Cuddy. Reeve Hook thanked the Malcolms for all their hard work, and said the request will be discussed as part of emergency planning.

DOG/CAT BYLAW: Addington Highlands has enacted a new dog/cat bylaw that regulates the registration and control of dogs and cats. It limits the keeping of dogs to three, and cats to six per lot within the defined hamlets. The by-law considers a dog to be a public nuisance if "it defecates on property other than the private property of the dog owner", and owners/handlers are required to "poop & scoop" or face a $55 fine. There are also specific fines and conditions for "Dogs Running at Large".

With the participation of the Government of Canada