R.Q. v. City of Mississauga, 2020 CanLII 103486

Tribunals Ontario

Tribunaux décisionnels Ontario

Assessment Review Board

Commission de révision de l’évaluation foncière

ISSUE DATE: December 21, 2020

FILE NO.: WR 167596

Assessed Person(s): R.Q.; Q.A.S.

Appellant(s): R.Q.; Q.A.S.

Respondent(s): City of Mississauga

Property Location(s): Address withheld

Municipality(ies): City of Mississauga

Roll Number(s): Roll number withheld

Appeal Number(s): 3412757 and 3412758

Taxation Year(s): 2018 and 2019

Hearing Event No.: 737165

Legislative Authority: Section 357(1)(d.1) of the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25

APPEARANCES:

Parties

Representative

R.Q.; Q.A.S.

No one appeared

City of Mississauga

Sean Doyle

HEARD: December 15, 2020 by telephone conference call

ADJUDICATOR(S): Jean-Paul Pilon, Member

DECISION

Background

1Applicants R.Q. and Q.A.S. (the “Applicants”) filed applications with the City of Mississauga to have their taxes reduced, cancelled or refunded because they were unable to pay the taxes levied in 2018 and 2019 because of sickness or extreme poverty.

2A pre-hearing telephone conference was held on October 21, 2020 to provide information about the full hearing that was to be scheduled and to confirm what documents would be required to support the applications. At the pre-hearing teleconference it was determined that the full hearing teleconference would be held on December 15, 2020 at 9:30 a.m.

3All of this was summarized in an Interim Decision that issued on October 27, 2020 after the pre-hearing teleconference that was attended by Q.A.S. That Interim Decision also noted that the Applicants were responsible for proving that they were unable to pay taxes because of sickness or extreme poverty, and it set out in detail the documentation that would be required to address that burden of proof.

4Prior to that pre-hearing teleconference, the Applicants had submitted some of the documentation that would have been required to meet that burden, but not all of it and not nearly enough to prove any inability to pay taxes. The Applicants did not comply with the Interim Decision because they did not submit any further documentation after the pre-hearing teleconference.

5The Applicants did not attend the full hearing teleconference that began at 9:30 a.m. on December 15, 2020 and ended 20 minutes later, nor did they contact the Board or the City of Mississauga’s representative after the pre-hearing teleconference.

6The Interim Decision was clear that “failure to comply with the above (requirements) may result in a dismissal of the applications” and the notice of hearing for the full hearing teleconference said that “if you do not participate and are not represented at the start of the hearing (9:30 am) the Board may proceed in your absence and may dismiss your appeal(s).”

2018 Application

7The Interim Decision indicated that the first question to be determined by the Board at the full hearing teleconference would be whether the Applicants’ application for the 2018 taxation year was filed on time.

8To that end, the Municipality submitted an affidavit from its representative Sean Doyle, sworn remotely on December 9, 2020, which said that the Applicants’ application for the 2018 taxation year had been received by the Municipality on March 8, 2019.

9Section 357(3) of the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25 provides that “an application…must be filed with the treasurer on or before the last day of February of the year following the year in respect of which the application was made,” in this case Thursday, February 28, 2019.

10The Applicants filed no evidence to support their position that the 2018 application was filed on time which the Interim Decision indicated that they were required to do. The only evidence before the Board on this issue was from the City of Mississauga which indicated that that the 2018 application was not filed on time.

11As a result, the Board finds that the Applicants filed the application pertaining to the 2018 taxation year late and that it was not properly before the Board. Even if the 2018 application was not filed late, it would have been dismissed in any event because there was insufficient evidence to prove any inability to pay for that taxation year, and because the Applicants did not appear at the full hearing to support that application.

12The 2018 application is therefore dismissed.

13As noted above, the Applicants did not comply with the Interim Decision. They did not file the documentation that would have been necessary to determine that they were unable to pay taxes in 2019 because of sickness or extreme poverty. In addition, they failed to appear at the hearing to support this application.

14The 2019 application is also, therefore, dismissed.

ORDER

15The Board orders that the applications filed by R.Q. and Q.A.S. with the City of Mississauga to have their taxes reduced, cancelled or refunded because they were unable to pay the taxes levied in 2018 and 2019 because of sickness or extreme poverty are dismissed.