Dave White Letter to SD&G Ontario MPP Jim McDonell over MPAC – December 12, 2012

jim mcdonell offDear Mr McDonell,
 
Thanks for the reply to my original e-mail sent to you on November 17 and 21, 2012 regarding Service Ontario and MPAC valuations. In conversation with your office they told me the reason a reply wasn’t already sent was that “as a new MPP” you and your staff were going through a “learning curve” and that although Mayor Kilger (also on the board of directors for MPAC) responded within two hours, he had only 46,000 constituents whereas Jim has over 100,000. Like the MPAC evaluator, sometimes people can say too much, so I suggest that your people are better trained to respond to the constituents needs and not make excuses for you.
 
No Jim, you may not be able to interfere with MPAC process, but as our MPP you can certainly bring the concerns of your constituents up in parliament to discuss the absurdity of the MPAC in arbitrarily elevating our valuations to the point of driving families and elderly people out of their homes with high property taxation.
 
The MPAC could be abolished altogether, in my humble opinion, and the valuation of a home be the price the buyer paid for it.
 
It would eliminate a whole level of unnecessary and incompetent bureaucracy as has already been apparent in the past, and is apparently happening again.
 
When, and if the cities or counties need more revenue dollars to provide necessary services they can elevate the mill rate, without having another level of bureaucracy getting their fingers in the cookie dough.
 
That’s the way they do it in efficient jurisdictions, as an example where I lived in Quebec.
 
Fact is, we don’t need ‘used car salesmen’ and their high paid bosses to determine the values of our homes.
 
As far as your suggestion to contest our valuations thru proper channels of the MPAC appeal board, don’t you think that I already knew that? And I damn well will if you can’t or are unwilling to help before it comes to that.
 
My e-mail to you and the public was to raise awareness of the absurdity of the current valuations and to make people stand up for how they are treated and how unnecessary bureaucracy is costing us taxpayers, as we are the ones paying your salaries.
 
Surely, you can do something about that.
 
As far as Service Ontario, it happened a few years ago and is apparently still happening.
 
I have no file number to provide, and forget the name of the clown in head office that I spoke to, but my posting on CFN and the Ottawa Sun article printed is all the ammunition you should need to also represent, not only your constituents in this matter, but benefit all people in Ontario who have to deal with those clowns at Service Ontario, or require their MPP, as was the case of the Ottawa woman, to intervene and get a copy for her.
 
Please don’t be a rubber stamp on the idiocy of the bureaucracies that your constituents have to put up with. That’s why we put you into office, to help us, not mollify us with a mere response.
 
Thanks
Dave White
Monkland

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13 Comments

  1. WOW!!! Very professionnally written….personally, I would be impressed getting a letter like that!!!

  2. Bravo Dave, bravo. We all have to fight the good fight. Even if we don’t succeed in getting our current political masters to do the right thing at least we can keep the topics current until the next provincial and municipal election.

  3. Eric, Good websites that you are directing our attention to. The first CTV’s article is about the freeze, mostly due to election time and the drop in the economy and markets a few years ago. That doesn’t apply today because the McGuinty Liberals know they are toast in the next election (no need to suck up and bribe us this time), so they are getting their pound of flesh they ‘missed’ years ago and going hog wild with evaluations. The one on ‘building blocks of waste’ just goes to show that MPAC must go. Such an extravagant all expense paid party paid for by our tax dollars is the reason they are trying to look useful by increasing municipal revenue with their assessments. I hope all readers here open Eric’s references to MPAC. I will keep the readers of CFN posted on replies from BoB Kilger and Jim McDonell (and hopefully favourable results for all of us).

    Dave White
    Monkland

  4. Now Dave, please don’t suggest that the Liberals (or the PC Conservatives) actually abolish any pork programs like MPAC.

    Puhleeeeeze…….where would they put their bagmen and loyal partisans as rewards on the taxpayer expense account.

    Municipal politicians like the system the way it is too……they have no direct responsibility and simply point the finger at MPAC when taxpayers scream about higher taxation.

  5. Good Article!

    Why don’t we just set your assessment at the value it was sold and then add inflation annually?

    Surely, inflation must considered to help offset the rising costs of services!

    Your assessment should everytime it is sold and brought to the price you paid! Then yearly raise the value by the same rate of inflation!

    …………………..but wait that makes too much sense and then you couldn’t get extra money out of the public to cover the cost of a bloated ineffecient government!

    Hence, the useless and good for nothing Guy Lauzon and Jim McDonnell!

    Where are you guys when we need you cowards?
    – Bridge and customs debate
    – Teachers strike
    – etc.

    Always making up excuses like Bob Kilger and never really doing anything……..always taking credit for things you didn’t do and then pointing the finger when things go wrong!

    I am so tired of listening and watching the BS in this city that some new young blood must take the reign simply because atleast doing something would be more progressive than doing nothing at all!

  6. Good question Phil Miller, there are even a couple of provincial appointees on the Police Board…..

  7. “McNaughton also noted a 2010 Report by Ontario’s Auditor General, which found that MPAC had spent $50 million over each of the previous five years on “goods and services” with almost no documentation to support the purchases.”
    http://www.ontariopc.com/news/mpac-and-the-building-blocks-of-waste/

    So from 2005 to 2010, MPAC spent $250 million with almost no documentation, and the Ontario Conservatives are only politely complaining. Why don’t they ask OPP to lay criminal charges not only against MPAC, but against the entire McGuinty mafiosi government?

  8. Dave and fellow taxpayers:

    Scrutinize your MPAC assessments very, verycarefully. If MPAC is capable of moving your modest abode and its street address to a handsome property in a more desirable/waterfront location on another street that also happens to be up for sale (!), as is the case with our assessment, what else are they capable of?

    As to the form reply I received from MPAC to the RfR (Request for Reconsideration) I sent in 7 weeks ago, signed by no one and including the statement: “We are working towards completing RfRs within 90 days of receipt. MPAC is required by legislation to notify you of the RfR results by–[get this]–September 30, 2013.”….

    Remember the poll-tax revolt in Margaret Thatcher’s day that successfully turned the lady who was not for turning? Just a thought.

  9. This just in:

    Our house has been moved back overnight to its usual location and reassessed far more reasonably. The MPAC valuator who called with the news said waggishly “we have drained the river for you” and explained it was a “mapping error” by an “external source.” OK, at least we won’t have to wait till September 2013, with an insane hike in taxes till then.

    Moral: it can pay to jump up and down like Rumpelstiltskin.

  10. This letter is a joke and filled with the usual misnomers, I trust the public understands MPAC, the valuation process, property taxation and the role of the Municipality to set the tax rate, over a pathetic, ego driven letter like this. A few points:

    -absurdity of the MPAC in arbitrarily elevating our valuations to the point of driving families and elderly people out of their homes with high property taxation.
    -MPAC follows the real estate market. Its the market that drives the value. NOT MPAC. The Local Taxing board (Municipality) are the ones that set the tax rate, based on their budgets for the next 4 years, again

    The MPAC could be abolished altogether, in my humble opinion, and the valuation of a home be the price the buyer paid for it.
    -really? So you are asking for a system, full of inequites? Under your proposed system, 2 families living side by side. Both with 2 adults, 2 kids. One family owned their house for 20 years and pay tax on a value of 150,000. the next family just bought their house, which is the same…and pay on a value of 400k. Is that fair to you? Ask the people in California where proposition 13 is making a mess of property taxation.

    As far as your suggestion to contest our valuations thru proper channels of the MPAC appeal board, don’t you think that I already knew that? And I damn well will if you can’t or are unwilling to help before it comes to that

    -Wrong again.
    The Assessment Review Board is an quasi judicial independant tribunal. Nothing whatsover to do with MPAC.

    try to do some research first please.

  11. No Simon, your retort is a joke or do you just like to hear yourself. Either that or you work for MPAC or are a Conservative or Liberal Flunkie or do you work for Jim and are trying to protect your boss? How come it works in Quebec to keep the original purchase price and slowly raise tax rates? Let’s forget about California or the USA as they have their own version of insanity, inefficiency and corruption.
    Second, in all fairness, even if it were an efficient system, then all home owners should go up the same percentage. That’s not the case. Read the original CFN posting by the editor about the excessive increases. Also, the housing market has had a downturn with the new Federal mortgage restrictions and still shaky economy. Is that the time to elevate housing values? Just look what happened to the USA housing market. My sister is a Century 21 agent and she is selling houses for 85,000 that were purchased at 180,000 in the Detroit area. Also, the cost of living should be taken into consideration and not exceed it by more than double the rate. My evaluation went up 5.52% each year for the next 5 years, while the average is only 3.85%. Is that fair?
    No renovations or changes were done to my humble home since 2003 and the MPAC did make a correction then as they had my home valued then at 71,000 when I paid 65,000 in 2003.
    I would have no problem if they slowly brought up the valuation and the mill rate either stayed the same or went down, but my latest valuation went up $17,000. My previous valuation went up $1000 per year and that I accepted as fair, even though my home had no improvements and got 4 years older.
    Maybe you are filthy rich or stupid enough to pay without complaining, but I am not and I believe in taxation with representation, including my own.
    Maybe you should read some of the web site attachments to see just how valuable the MPAC are, especially to themselves.
    And finally, don’t you think that as owners we should have a say in the valuation of our homes or do you want to just let inefficient or corrupt government officials make all decisions for you? Maybe you do, or don’t own a home and don’t care, but not I.

  12. mpack a mike harris curse with mcquinty blessing we have to come together just refuse to pay they would crumble in week

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