Assessments

Property severance or consent is the process of dividing one property into two or more properties. Property owners wishing to sever a property must contact the municipality’s Planning Department to learn about the consent process and what permits may be required. For more information, visit Planning

How the severance process affects your property tax account:

1. Once a property is severed, MPAC creates new roll numbers and notifies the property owner of the changes.  Only once annually (November each year) do they provide the municipality with an upload that updates the municipality’s computer records to include any property changes.
   
   1. 1. If your severance did not make the cut-off date to be included in the November upload, the new roll number(s) will not be created in the municipality’s computer system for the following year.  The original owner will receive 1 tax bill for the original roll number as it was before the severance. 
         
         
      2. The municipality will not change assessment records, create new roll numbers or re-bill property taxes until the severance information is uploaded to its computer system.  It is up to the original owner or lawyer to recover the proportionate share of current taxes from any new owners. 
         
         

Consolidation of Parcels takes place when two or more abutting parcels under a single ownership are consolidated at the Ontario Land Registry pursuant to an Application to Consolidate Parcels. 

How does this affect my taxes?

Property assessment is a key component of municipal tax systems. All Ontario properties are reassessed by MPAC based on market value every four years.  Notice of the reassessed property values are mailed to the homeowner. These values are also provided to each municipality.

Please Note
Property assessment values may increase or decrease for a variety of reasons including changes in economic conditions, structural alterations, and re-zoning.

How are newly built structures assessed?

Assessment on a newly built structure does not happen immediately.  Following approval of occupancy, it can take up to 36 months for MPAC to assess the property and provide the information to the Township.  Once the Township receives the increased assessment information, a supplemental tax bill will be issued on the property to the current homeowner.

It is important to understand this process to ensure you are prepared when the bill is issued as MPAC can add assessment in the current year and/or the previous 2 years.

This assessment delay can also have ramifications on a property sale and should be discussed with your solicitor.