Robert Ford-King

Appeals and cross-appeals were brought regarding the property assessments of a special purpose food processing facility (slaughterhouse and poultry processing plant) for the 2017 to 2023 taxation years.

The Board determined the current value of the properties using the Cost Approach.

The Board established a land rate of $401,101.61 per acre for non-farmed land, relying on comparable sales of partially serviced industrial lands.

For improvements, the Board preferred the appellant's expert evidence, finding a reproduction cost new of $32,875,599 with a 14% functional obsolescence rate due to the piecemeal construction of the facility.

The Board declined to apply an equitable adjustment, finding insufficient evidence that the assessment was inequitable compared to similar lands in the vicinity.

The Appellants appealed the property tax assessments of industrial malls in Halton and Peel Regions for the 2013 to 2016 taxation years.

The central issue was the appropriate capitalization rate to apply to the net operating income of the properties.

MPAC had originally used a 7% capitalization rate but revised it to 6.6% for appealed properties after reducing fair market rents.

The Appellants argued the 6.6% rate was incorrect and inequitable compared to unappealed properties that remained at 7%.

The Assessment Review Board accepted MPAC's expert evidence supporting the 6.6% rate, finding that equity applies to the final assessed value rather than individual valuation components.

The Board concluded the 6.6% capitalization rate produced correct and equitable current values.