If you pay your
property taxes by installments, you will know that your third installment of your
2012 property tax bill came due late last month. Because of that deadline, a
number of people asked me questions that I hope to answer over my next few
columns.
First, you may
recall that I wrote about the 2012 property tax change in February just after
Council approved the Town’s operating budget. At that time I wrote "...the
average residential property value for 2012 is expected to be $284,566. If MPAC
assessed your home and property at that value, you will pay an additional $31
or a total of approximately $1,289 on the Pelham portion of your property tax bill."
I am pleased to
let you know that those values still hold true. However, you may recall that
that "Pelham portion" of your tax bill accounts for only 34% of your total
residential property tax bill.
The Niagara
Region accounts for 49% of the property taxes you pay in Pelham, while the
Provincial educational portion is the remaining 17%. For the average
residential property, the Regional portion of your tax bill increased by 3.3% --
or $59 for a total of approximately $1,850 -- and the Education portion barely changed
-- increasing $0.57 for a total of approximately $629.
When you combine these
amounts, the average residential property tax bill increased by $91 (or 2.48%)
for a total of $3,768.
For clarity, that
is for an average residential property assessed at $284,566 and that increased in
value by 4.6%. This 4.6% was the average residential assessment increase from
2011 to 2012.
But, what if you
residential assessment increased more than the average? Or, what if the
assessed value increased less than the average?
If your assessed
value increases more than the average you will pay more than average. For
example, if the assessed value of your home increased by 7% from 2011 to 2012,
that’s higher than the 4.6% average, and you would pay more property tax than
the average increase.
By the same
token, if your assessed value increases less than the average -- say by only 3%
-- you will pay less tax than the average increase, but likely more than you
paid in 2011.
I hope that helps
explain why the specific experience of property owners varies from the average.
I will write further about changes to property taxes over the next few weeks.
