The LFA, with support of the OFA will be speaking before County Council on Wednesday April 5, 2017 with council starting at 8am at the county buildings in Wyoming. The LFA is requesting that each member review their MPAC statement, and this excerpt from the presentation from OFA. Should you agree with the information, the LFA is looking for support from their members at the meeting, additionally with contact to your county mayors and/or councillors.
The taxable assessment of farmland has increased by an average of nearly 70% in Ontario. If Municipal governments choose not to act, there will be a shift of property tax Burden onto Farmland Property owners. How much of an impact will depend on the increase in Farmland values relative to other Properties (residential, commercial, industrial). The more disproportionate the increases in farmland values are in your county, the more tax burden will be shifted to farmland property owners.
In Lambton from the 2012 Assessment to 2016 Assessment;
- Farmland CVA has increased by 65%
- Residential CVA Increased by 12%
- Commercial CVA Increased by 11%
- Industrial CVA Increased by 21%
There are two primary concerns that put additional pressure on local property tax payers:
- Rural Municipal budgets have been strained by the reduced funding from the province.
- Lack of commercial/Industrial assessment in rural communities.
OFA is working with the EOWC & WOWC to address these two common concerns.
To avoid a property tax shift onto farmland property owners your local county governments will need to adjust the Farm Property Tax Ratio below the current 25% of residential taxes.
How much they need to adjust the tax ratio will depend on the assessment changes in your county. County governments have full authority to adjust the farm tax ratio anywhere between 0%-25% of the local residential tax rate each year.
Farm Tax Ratio Required in Lambton
For Farm Property Owners to maintain the current proportion of tax Burden (10.4% of total taxes) would require the following adjustments to Tax Ratios over time.
- 2017: 0.22
- 2018: 0.2
- 2019: 0.18
- 2020: 0.17
Note: This is not a tax break, farm property owners will still be paying more taxes each year, and they will simply be paying the same proportion of taxes.