The Brussels Post, 1976-07-07, Page 5JRIA.na _
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NOTICE OF MEETING
The Commission to Review Proposals
for
Property Tax Reform in Ontario
A public meeting for residents of Huron and Perth counties and Stratford will be +
held bn August 4, 1976 at 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., 7 p.m. to 9:30
p.m., at Goderich Collegiate GyMnasium, 260 South Street, Goderich, to receive
submissions, both oral and written,- from lo'cal government representatives, prop-
erty taxpayers and all other interested parties, concerning the proposals that have
been put forward by the Government of Ontario as a means of establising a new
system of property. taxation based on market value assessment. •
This meeting is one of a series which the Commission is conducting throughout
Ontario this summer and, fall, before submitting.'its recommendations to the govern-
ment.
The proposals, originally published in the 1976 Ontario Budget, Budget Paper E,
entitled Reform of Property Taxation in Ontario, are as follows:
1. Residences in Ontario, collectively,
will bear a reduced share of property
taxes.
2. Residential property will be redefined
to include only residences and a
reasonable amount of land.
3. The' present practice of levying dif-
ferent mill rates on residential .and
commercial properties will be discon-
tinued.
4. Farmland, farm buildings, managed
forests and farm residences will be
assessed .at market value. Farmland,
farm buildings and managed, forests
will be taxed at 100 percent of market
value and the taxes will be paid by the
Province. Farm residences will be
taxed as all other residences at 50 per-
cent of market value and the taxes will
be paid by the owner. There will be
provision to recover taxes paid by the
Province if the property changes use.
5. All real property used for the purpose
of a business, including government
administrative facilities will be subject
to an additional assessment of 50 per-
cent of market value for business
taxes.
6. All public property except residences
will be subject to payments in lieu of
taxes equal to full taxes at 100 percent
of market Galue. Public residences will
be subject to payments in lieu of taxes
equivalent to full taxes at 50 percent of
market value. Public utilities will be
subject to business assessment at 50
percent of market value.
7. As is the present case, churches,
cemeteries, and property held in trust
for a band or body of Indians will be
exempt. All other presently exempt
property will be taxed at 100 percent
Copies of Budget Paper E containing background and explanatory information, in addi-
tion to the proposals themselves, may be obtained,• free of charge, from regional
assessment offibes or from Mr. Lawrence Close, Executive Secretary, Commission on
Property Tax Reform, Fifth Floor, Frost Building South, Queen's, Park, Toronto M7A
1Y7, telephone (416) 965-1671. If you plan to appear and present a written or oral sub-
mission, please notify Mr. Close in advance, by letter or telephone. We would also ap-
preciate receiving one copy Of any vyritten submission, prior to the meeting.
Since the purpose of these meetings is to help ensure that the new taxation system is
implemented in an efficient and equitable manner, the Commission hopes that •
all Ontario residents with opinions and suggestions to offer will manage to make their
representations to us.
111111 s L Blair
Chairman
of market value, except residences
which will be taxed at 50 percent of
market value.
8. A uniform method of phasing-in the
new tax system over a period of up to
five years will ,be available 'to prevent
abrupt fax changes.,
9. Assessment rolls will be returned and
enumeration will be performed every
, two years to coincide with local
governmenfelections.
10. Assessment on provincial government
property will be pooled and assigned
between the public and separate' ele-
mentary schools in the same propor:
tion as the 'taxable assessment as-
signed by the owners and occupants
of residences.
11. Costs shal'ed among municipalities
will be shared, on the basis of the
assessment on which taxes and pay-
ments in lieu of taxes are based.
12. 'Where assessment is to be used to
determine the grant to be paid to a
municipality, the assessment used
will be the assessment on which taxes
and payments in lieu of taxes are
based.
13. The provisions of The Assessment Act
will apply to the assessment of all real
property in Ontario, including areas
without municipal organization8'.
14. Public bodies which receive provincial
grants, such as school boards, will be
allowed to include their property tax
payments as allowable expenses for
grant purposes.
15. Ontario's property tax credits which .
relate property taxes to the ability to
pay will, if necessary, be strengthened
upon implementation of the new
systeM,
AmmommarmilimIM
THE BRUSSELS POST, JULY 7 i 1976
•
•
Huron
Housing
0 Authority
inaugurated
The new Huron County
Housing Authority 'which was
inaugurated earlier this month is
designed to decentralize assisted
housing management to a more
local level and expand the local
housing authority (LHA) system
according to a release from the
Ministry of Housing. The new
authority will be responsible fore
senior citizen units iry Seaforth.
The authority supersedes the
former Clinton Housing Authority
which had been in abeyance for
some time, and the Goderich
Housing Authority whose
chairman was Harold Shore of
Goderich. The authority office is
located in Goderich.
Harold Knisley of Goderich is
chairman of the nevk', authority.
Other members are: Jack
Delbridge of Exeter, Frank Sills
of Seaforth and Ken Flett of
Clinton.
The total Ontario Housing
Corporation portfolio under
management includes 301 senior
citizen and family housing rental
units in Clinton, Goderich,
Bayfield, Exeter, Seaforth,
Wingham and Brussels.-A fuither
60 senior citizen and -family
housing rental units are under
development in Seaforth, Zurich,
Blyth and Wingham.
Housing Minister John Rhodes
commented recently on the
ministry's policy of eliminating
local managed authorities and
centralizing housing
management, with the transfer of
all OHC direct management
portfolios, in a county authority.
"The system ensures that
management -will remain
sensitive to local needs and
priorities by putting it •in the
hands of local public-spirited
citizens, and yet be autonomous
to act in the best interests of the
whole community," he said.
The new system of expanding
local housing authorities to cover
broader geographical bases
means "we can extend the
availability of socially assisted
housing to very small
communities which might not
otherwise become involved.
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