The Rural Voice, 2001-01, Page 60HURON519-482-9642 or 1-800-511-1135 Website
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
Box 429, Clinton, Ontario NOM 1L0
www.ofa.on.cahuron Email huron aofa.on.ca
• The Rural Voice is provided to all farmers
in Huron County by the HCFA_
Things to check on
your assessment
notice
All landowners by now should
have received notices of property
assessment for all properties. Some
things to check on these forms now
could save you time, frustration and
dollars in the future. Your properties
. classification section on your notice
is very important to farmers as it
designates the classification that your
property is under. For farm properties
that include a residence you will have
an assessment for your house and one
acre, classified as Residential/Farm
Taxable: Full plus a section for your
remaining farmland and farm
buildings, classified as Farmlands
Taxable: Full. For properties that are
only farmland and do not include a
residence, your classification should
be Farmlands Taxable: Full. If you
own a separate woodlot property and
it is part of an approved managed
woodlot program, it should be
classified as Managed Forest
Taxable: Full.
It is important to recognize the
classification of your property now,
because if it is in the wrong
classification, you will be paying
more taxes on it. If for example your
farmland portion is classed as
residential, then your municipality
will apply the full tax rate, when it
should be applied at 25% of the
residential tax rate. In the past, many
people have not noted their
properties classification on their
assessment notice until it's too late.
They receive their first tax bill and
realize that their farm is in the wrong
classification. Therefore it is taxed at
the full residential tax rate. If you
don't recognize that your property is
in an incorrect classification before
March 31, you will have a difficult
time getting it reversed. In most
municipalities you won't receive
your first tax bill until after the
March 31 deadline to change the
classification. Therefore your
opportunity is now, to make
56 THE RURAL VOICE
Huron County Farmers at the Ottawa rally November 9, were left to right: John
Dowson, Jeff Hayter, Donald Broadfoot, and Graham Keys.
corrections. If your property is in the
wrong classification, or you have
questions about its classification, you
may call the Goderich Assessment
office which covers properties in
Huron and Perth Counties at 524-
7326 or 1-800-265-5192.
You may also want to inquire
about how they came up with the
estimated value of your property. It
has been reported to our office that
some farmers have been able to get a
reduction on their assessed value by
having the classifiers come out again
to look at their properties. Some
examples would be to ensure the soil
class that the assessment office has
on your property is the actual soil
classes. Also ensure that the workable
acres are correct. Windbreaks and
graEsed open ditches have been
assessed at lower per acre values
upon a request for reconsideration.
Also be sure to find out if they
have the correct number of farm
buildings and how they are listed on
your property assessment.
Challenging situations have also
arisen when properties change
ownership, or when a house is
severed off a piece of farmland
HCFA OFFICE HOURS
Mondays and Fridays •
9 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Please leave a message.
(519) 482-9642
1-800-511-1135
FAX (519) 482-1416
property. In some cases the new
ownership, or the creation of a new
roll number, is enough to change the
classification of a property. The
important issue here is for you as a
property owner to know how they are
assessing your property, and that the
information the Assessment Office
has, is indeed correct.°
40Y�)fj The Board of Directors
4€4,4--./. of Huron County
Federation of Agriculture
•""Nt wishes the farm
community in Huron a very happy and
successful 2001 and thank you for
memberships/ assistance in 2000.
Thanks for the help
Thank you so much to the following
companies who donated financially and/or
assisted in any way in promoting and
planning the bus trip from Huron to the
Ottawa rally on November 9, 2000.
Approximately 1,100 farmers supported the
movement, including two buses of farmers
from Huron/Perth. Companies lending
support were: Fleming Feed Mill, Hensall
Co-op, Thompson's, Vincent's; McGavin's,
Underwood's, Novartis, Donny Dalton,
Boyd's Elevators Ltd., and Zurbrigg
Elevators Ltd. We would also like to thank
our Board of Directors who made many
phone calls to recruit. Special thanks to
Gordon Hill, Brian VanAaken, Mervyn Erb
for their extra efforts in assisting. Thanks to
all those who contributed apples, juice,
water, etc. Everyone's help was very much
appreciated.°