While we may rejoice that our assessments have gone up and not down, we should be more concerned about the “mill rate” to be applied to those assessments.
Mill rate controls the amount we pay in real property tax and is decided by the mayor and council on the basis of what they decide they need. They need to meet fixed expenses of their city or municipality as well as the expenses they choose to incur.
Assessments going up or down do not necessarily control the direction in which our property taxes move although assessments increased by the provincial government help local governments to hide behind the increased assessments as reason for increasing taxes; in fact, assessments have little to do with them. Mill rate is the villain and the local government controls that.
Years of Fortin’s Follies have condemned taxpayers to rising property taxes and other local expenses for the foreseeable future. Is ‘Helps’ on the way?
Jack Clover, Victoria