| May 18, 2016


Most of the property owners receiving notices of assessment this week from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) will be getting good news, at least as far as the impact of their assessment on the property taxes they will be paying over the next four years is concerned.

In South, Central, and North Frontenac, and Tay Valley, the average property will see less than a 1% increase in assessment each year between 2017 and 2020. As well, unlike in previous four-year assessment cycles, waterfront ratepayers are seeing about the same increase as the rest of the homeowners.

In some jurisdictions, waterfront values have even dropped between December of 2011 when the previous assessment was done and the end of 2015 when the new assessment was done.

In Central Frontenac, for example, the overall change that will be applied in 2017 is an increase of less than 1%. Waterfront assessments are flat, whereas the non-waterfront values have risen by 4%, meaning assessments for the average non-waterfront properties will rise by 1% each year for the next four years.

The net effect will be a flattening out or even a slight reversal of the trend of the last decade or more, which saw waterfront ratepayers assuming an ever-increasing share of the tax burden. Waterfront property values in Central Frontenac are, on average, about twice those of non-waterfront properties.

The average value of a waterfront residence in Central Frontenac is now $239,500, and the other residences have an average value of $141,000.

In South Frontenac, where the overall average increase is also less than 1% per year for four years, the assessment is about the same for waterfront and non-waterfront residences. The average value of a waterfront residence in South Frontenac is now $298,000 and the average value of off-water residences is about 10% less, $262,000.

In North Frontenac, where the overall average increase in assessment is also under 1% per year for four years, waterfront assessments seem to be up a little bit whereas non-waterfront residences have been dropping in value.

Decreases in assessment are treated differently by MPAC than increases are treated. While increases are phased in to flatten out their impact in the first year or two, decreases are applied in their entirety to bring all the tax savings to the ratepayer in the first year.

The average waterfront residence in North Frontenac is valued at $261,000 and the non-waterfront average is $118,000.

In Tay Valley, particularly in the Maberly/Brooke Valley region where the Frontenac News is distributed, the increase of 1% per year is shared more or less equally by waterfront and non-waterfront values. The average waterfront home in Tay Valley is assessed at $388,500 and the average non-waterfront home is assessed at $216,000, less than half.

In Lanark Highlands, while the overall average increase is 1.3% per year for four years, in the Elphin/McDonalds Corners region, where the News is distributed, values have dropped by about 5%, which will have a moderated effect on taxation in that region. The average waterfront residence in Lanark Highlands is valued at $325,000 and the average non-waterfront residence is assessed at $187,000.

Finally, in Addington Highlands, assessments are going up on average by 2.2% per year for four years. The increase, which seems to apply equally to water and non-waterfront properties, is driven by increases in values for properties located in the vicinity of Lake Mazinaw and points north. The average waterfront property in Addington Highlands is assessed at $226,000 and non-waterfront properties are worth just over half as much, $121,000, on average.

When townships come to budget time next year, these values will be supplemented by increases in assessment that come from new construction, and the tax rate that is applied at the end of the municipal budget process.

The assessments also demonstrate that the sale prices of properties in the region have been flat, even for waterfront properties, which came as a surprise to at least one realtor.

“Prices have not gone up as quickly as in the past,” said the realtor, on the condition of anonymity, “but they have gone up.”

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