February 8th is an important date for the budget ratification but it doesn’t define what you pay in terms of taxes.
CPA Linda Evans with the city the process continues into the spring.
“That is done through the tax policy report that will be coming in April,” says Evans. “[It’s] really important to understand that at that time council will make the decisions around how much of that levy will be paid by each of the property classes.”
The Certified Professional Accountant with the corporation stresses there is no direct correlation between increases to the tax levy and what your property taxes end up being.
It all comes down to the amount of the tax levy that’s finalized and what your property assessment value is based on MPAC.
Evans does acknowledge across the provincial board, property tax rates are higher in Thunder Bay but there’s a reason for it.
“It’s because the assessed values of our properties are lower. In the city of Toronto, for example, their assessment values are very high but therefore their tax rate can be low. There’s a correlation between the two,” Evans noted.
