Fausto Saponara

The appellant appealed the property assessment of a detached home in Vaughan for the 2015 and 2016 taxation years.

The property was assessed at $1,242,000 based on a January 1, 2012 valuation date.

The appellant, a real estate broker who purchased the property from his client after it failed to sell, argued the purchase price of $910,000 was the best indicator of value.

MPAC argued the sale was not arm's length due to the broker-client relationship and proposed a value of $1,073,000 based on comparable sales.

The Assessment Review Board found MPAC's comparable sales evidence flawed and accepted the adjusted purchase price of $961,415 (including waived commission and HST) as the best indicator of current value.

The Board reduced the assessment to $961,000 and found no further equity adjustment was required.

The appellant appealed the property assessment of its industrial warehouse and office building for the 2013, 2014, and 2015 taxation years, which was assessed at $5,813,000.

Both parties used the direct sales comparison approach.

The Assessment Review Board rejected the appellant's proposed comparable properties due to differences in age and sale dates, and accepted two of the three comparable properties proposed by MPAC.

Applying adjustments for lot size, building age, height, and mezzanine value, the Board determined the current value to be $5,478,000.

No equity adjustment was made.

The assessment was reduced accordingly.

The appellant appealed the property assessments of 11 tenanted office condominium units for the 2013, 2014, and 2015 taxation years.

The appellant argued that tenanted properties have a lower value than owner-occupied properties and should be valued using the Net Income approach.

MPAC argued that the Direct Sales Comparison approach should be used.

The Assessment Review Board found that encumbrances such as leases are to be ignored for assessment purposes and preferred MPAC's Direct Sales Comparison approach due to the better quality of comparable properties.

The Board determined the current values and found no further equity adjustments were necessary.

The appellant appealed the property assessment of a commercial property in Mississauga for the 2014 and 2015 taxation years.

MPAC assessed the property at $1,094,000 (reduced to $976,000 for 2015) using the Cost Approach, arguing the $700,000 purchase price in 2013 was not indicative of current value due to a vendor-take-back mortgage and lack of open market exposure.

The Assessment Review Board found the sale was an arm's length transaction between a willing buyer and seller, and the vendor-take-back mortgage did not distort the sale price.

The Board reduced the assessment to $700,000 for both taxation years, finding no further adjustment for equity was required.

The appellant appealed the property assessment of a custom-built home on a 15.79-acre lot, arguing that the assessed value of $5,625,000 was too high because most of the land was located in a floodplain and not buildable.

The Assessment Review Board agreed with the appellant, finding that 13.7 acres were in the floodplain and should be valued at $18,000 per acre.

Using the direct sales comparison approach for the buildable portion, the Board determined the total current value of the property to be $4,933,000 and reduced the assessment accordingly.