OARB 2008

The appellant purchased a property previously used by the RCMP and left it vacant while attempting to sell it.

The City of Brockville increased the 2005 property taxes by $4,108.52 under section 357 of the Municipal Act, 2001, due to a change in property class from payment-in-lieu to fully taxable commercial.

The appellant appealed the City's decision.

The Assessment Review Board found that the City lacked the authority to initiate a section 357 application for the 2005 taxation year, as only specific parties (not the municipality's treasurer) could apply under the relevant subsections, and the statutory deadlines and notice requirements were not met.

The Board ordered the City to refund the $2,875.96 in realty taxes paid for 2005, plus interest.

The applicant municipality sought to apportion unpaid property taxes among 144 condominium units based on calculations provided by the respondent developer, rather than using a statement of relative value from the assessment corporation.

The Board held that under section 356 of the Municipal Act, it must first determine that an apportionment based on relative value is not appropriate due to special circumstances before it can apportion taxes in any other manner.

Because no statement of relative value was provided in evidence, the Board could not make this threshold determination.

The application was dismissed.