Assessment Review Board

Commission de révision de l’évaluation foncière

ISSUE DATE: March 07, 2017

FILE NO.: WR 142592

Assessed Person(s): Sota Holdings Ltd.

Appellant(s): Sota Holdings Ltd.

Respondent(s): City of Brampton

Property Location(s): 443 Railside Drive

Municipality(ies): City of Brampton

Roll Number(s): 2110-060-001-08838-0000

Complaint Number(s): 3173359

Taxation Year(s): 2015

Hearing Event No.: 637769

Legislative Authority: Section 364.(14) of the Municipal Act, S.O. 2001, c. 25, as amended

Heard: September 13, 2016 in Brampton, Ontario

APPEARANCES:

Parties

Representative

Sota Holdings Ltd.

Dorota Marshall

City of Brampton

Aida Karreman

FINAL DECISION OF THE BOARD DELIVERED BY DAN WEAGANT

INTRODUCTION

1On December 22, 2016, the Board issued ID 142592 which ordered the parties to determine:

• The Property Class of the subject area under the original application;
• The source of the information relied upon to determine the classification of the subject area under the original applications; and
• The amount of the Vacant Unit Rebate payable as a result.

2In the Interim Decision the Board determined that, if the subject area was in the Commercial Property Class, the appeal would be denied as the application did not meet the requirements of Ontario Regulation 325/01 for commercial property. Secondly, the Board determined that if the subject area was in the Industrial Property Class, the appeal would be allowed and that the Board would determine the amount of the Vacant Unit Rebate payable. Lastly, the Board determined that the area subject to the application was vacant from July 30, 2015 to December 31 2015, or 155 days.

3On February 10, 2017, the Board received email communication from the parties containing data on the subject lands including the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (“MPAC”) breakdown of the office area in the building; a portion of which was included for the application for Vacant Unit Rebate. The communication was initiated by Ms. Karreman and Ms. Marshall confirmed her agreement with Ms. Karreman’s findings. MPAC’s data on the distribution of the subject area is as follows:

• 50 percent of the area of the first floor area of the office space applied for Vacant Unit Rebate is in the Commercial Property Class, with an assessment of $127,708;
• 50 percent of the area of the first floor area of the office space applied for Vacant Unit Rebate is in the Industrial Property Class, with an assessment of $102,812; and
• All of the second floor area of the office space applied for Vacant Unit Rebate is in the Industrial Property Class, with an assessment of $227,850.

4In her submission to the Board, Ms. Karreman calculated the amount of the taxes generated for the three office areas, for the time period in 2015 that the subject area was vacant, as follows:

• first floor office (Commercial Property Class) – $1,468.70
• first floor office (Industrial Property Class) – $1,399.65
• Second Floor Office (Industrial Property Class) – $3,100.65

Ms. Karreman calculated these tax amounts based on a vacancy date of July 3, 2015, resulting in a total duration of 182 days. The Board determined at the hearing, that the period of vacancy began on July 30, 2015, making the duration of the vacancy 155 days and not 182 days as determined by Ms. Karreman, meaning that any taxes eligible for a vacant unit rebate would need to be reduced accordingly.

5Based on the data and calculations agreed upon by the parties, the Board determines the Vacant Unit Rebate as follows:

• The first floor area under the application that is in the Commercial Property Class is not eligible for a vacant unit rebate, as determined at the hearing in September 2016;
• The first floor area under the application that is in the Industrial Property Class is eligible for a vacant unit rebate. The amount calculated by Ms. Karreman of $1,399.65 represents the taxes for 182 days. The Board has determined that the duration of the vacancy was 155 days and the amount calculated by Ms. Karreman is reduced accordingly from $1,399.65 to $1,192.01.
• The second floor area under the application that is in the Industrial Property Class is eligible for a vacant unit rebate. Ms. Karreman calculates the taxes on this portion of the building to be $3,100.65. This amount was based on a total square footage on the second floor of 49,500 square feet (“sq. ft.”). The area applied for is 7,542 sq. ft. The amount of the rebate is reduced accordingly to account for the office area under the application, to $472.43. The amount calculated by Ms. Karreman for the second floor area represents the taxes for 182 days. The Board has determined that the duration of the vacancy was 155 days and the amount adjusted for the area is further reduced accordingly to $402.34.

DECISION

6The Board finds that the Vacant Unit Rebate payable to the applicant is $1,594.35.