Property value reassessments aren't as scary as you think

The last time MPAC assessed home values in Wasaga Beach, along with the rest of Ontario, was 2016. It would have happened since then if it weren't for a pause issued by the provincial government in 2020 due to COVID. Now, of course, homeowners and businesses are anxious about what the impact of a reassessment may be, when it eventually, finally, is un-paused.

If property values doubled, then...

Some are worried that the incredible rise in property values we saw since COVID will mean a similarly wild increase in our property taxes. Real estate across Ontario has been growing steadily for nearly two decades - even growing during the financial crisis of 2008 in the United States. Since COVID, prices soared higher, faster, which might suggest that taxes will increase just as dramatically when assessments resume. Fortunately, that's not how assessments work.

It's all relative

Properties are assessed to gauge a relative value of one home vs. those of other homes in the area. Consequently, as long as one particular home's value has risen or fallen consistently with those around it, then the taxes on that home should remain constant. If you renovate your home to add a bathroom or a bedroom, then the value of your home would rise relative to your neighbour's home, which did not have such improvements. Such a relative increase in value would then see a slight upward adjustment in your property taxes; your neighbour, however, may see no adjustment upon reassessment.

My partner and I are certainly relieved to learn how this works. We moved to Wasaga just before COVID and while the rise in our home's value was welcomed, a doubling of our property tax bill would be much less so.