Assessment Review Board
Commission de révision de l’évaluation foncière
ISSUE DATE: May 22, 2015
Assessed Person(s): Robert Harold Weatherseed and Jennifer Jane Eby
Appellant(s): Robert Harold Weatherseed and Jennifer Jane Eby
Respondent(s): Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (“MPAC”) Region 17
Respondent(s): Township of Georgian Bay
Property Location(s): 1752 Is 404 Georgian Bay
Municipality(ies): Township of Georgian Bay
Roll Number(s): 4465-030-006-00114-0000
Appeal Number(s): 2991270, 2986253, 3023375 and 3088180
Taxation Year(s): 2013, 2014 (and deemed 2015)
Hearing Event No. 570722
Legislative Authority: Sections 34 and 40 of the Assessment Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. A.31, as amended
Heard: November 27, 2014 in Port Severn, Ontario
APPEARANCES:
| Parties | Counsel+/Representative |
|---|---|
| R. H. Weatherseed | Self-represented |
| MPAC | M. D’Andrea |
| Township of Georgian Bay | No one appeared |
DECISION OF THE BOARD DELIVERED BY CRISTINA MARQUES
ISSUE
1The subject property is a seasonal, on water, one-and-a-half-storey detached house on a 1.25 acres lot that has an effective frontage of 220 feet. The house was built in 1950, renovated in 2002, and had a half storey addition in 2012 for an effective year built of 1997. It has hydro and septic bed, and MPAC classifies its quality level at 6. It has total building area of 3,405 square feet (“sq. ft.”) and an unfinished basement of 1,650 sq. ft. In addition to the house it has a cabin which MPAC values at $12,000. For the purposes of MPAC’s multiple regression model the lot is classified as shallow sandy shore line, southern exposure, and a subdivided island for which it receives a 20% negative adjustment.
2For the 2013 taxation year the property was initially assessed at $738,000. MPAC issued a supplementary assessment dated under section 34 of the Assessment Act (“the Act”) to recognize the addition to the house which had been omitted from the 2013 assessment. Michelle D’Andrea appearing for MPAC takes the position that the 2013 omitted portion of the assessment in the amount of $123,000 is reflective of the value added by the addition.
3The property is assessed at $861,000 for the 2014 taxation year.
4Ms. D’Andrea made a recommendation to remove the value of the cabin, $12,000, from the assessment of the subject property, reducing the initial current value assessment from $738,000 to $726,000 for the 2013 taxation year and the 2014 assessment from $861,000 to $849,000. She indicated that the subject property has been valued using the sales comparison approach, and submitted the sales of six comparable properties which sold in the open market, in arm's length transactions, for adjusted sale prices ranging from $380,010 to $979,275 provide a range of likely values for the subject property. For that reason, she testified that recommendation supports, a total assessment of $849,000 for both taxation year as being reflective of current value as required by s. 19.(1) Act.
5Robert Harold Weatherseed, the owner of the subject property, takes the position that the assessment is still too high based on the utility, steep slope and location of the subject property.
6The Assessment Review Board (“Board”) must determine the current value for both the initial and omitted assessments for 2013, and the assessment for 2014. The Board must also determine whether an assessment at current value is equitable, having reference to the assessments of similar lands in the vicinity.
7When there is an omitted assessment, the value of the omitted assessment is added to the value of the assessment as returned under [s. 31](https://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/stat/rso-1990-c-a31/latest/rso