Hockenhull Land Cattle Co. v. Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, 2020 CanLII 1387

January 09, 2020

FILE NO.:

DM 2019M68

Moving Party(ies):

Hockenhull Land Cattle Co. and John Hockenhull

Respondent(s):

Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (“MPAC”)

Region 32

Respondent(s):

Township of Oliver Paipoonge

Property Location(s):

41 Rubin Drive

Municipality(ies):

Township of Oliver Paipoonge

Roll Number(s):

5808-240-002-00302-0000

Taxation Year(s):

2017

Hearing Event No.:

726564

Legislative Authority:

Rule 26(b) of the Assessment Review Board Rules of Practice and Procedure

Heard:

November 19, 2019 by written submission

Parties

Representative

Submissions

Hockenhull Land Cattle Co.

John Hockenhull

Moving Party

Shelby Roper

Received

Township of Oliver Paipoonge

Not Received

DISPOSITION OF THE BOARD DELIVERED BY JOANNE LAWS

DISPOSITION OF MOTION

1John Hockenhull is a Director of Hockenhull Land Cattle Co., the registered owner of 41 Rubin Drive in Township of Oliver Paipoonge.

2On September 26, 2019, Mr. Hockenhull filed a motion for the Assessment Review Board (the “Board”) to accept a late appeal for the 2017 taxation year. He requests that the Assessment Review Board (the “Board”) accept his appeal for the 2017 taxation year because the appeal was not filed by the deadline set out in the Assessment Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. A.31 (the “Act”).

3MPAC is represented in the motion by Shelby Roper and opposes Mr. Hockenhull’s motion.

4The Township of Oliver Paipoonge, which would be a party to the appeal if accepted, filed no submission in the motion.

5For the reasons that follow, the Board denies the motion to file an appeal for the 2017 taxation year.

Background

6The agreed upon facts are:

a. The Moving Party filed an appeal of the Property’s 2016 taxation year assessment with this Board.

b. At the mandatory meeting for the 2016 taxation year appeal, held on September 24, 2019, Mr. Hockenhull became aware that the 2016 taxation year appeal would not include the 2017 to 2020 taxation years.

c. On October 18, 2016 MPAC issued a Property Assessment Notice to the Moving Party for the 2017 to 2020 taxation years.

7The deadline to file an appeal for the 2017 taxation year, as set out in the Property Assessment Notice, was March 31, 2017.

8In his affidavit of September 26, 2019, Mr. Hockenhull affirms that:

a. He has been diligent in his attempts to communicate with this Board and MPAC regarding his 2016 taxation year appeal which he filed on September 12, 2016

b. He has received limited direction or communication from either this Board or MPAC during the three years that have passed.

c. At the filing of this motion, the 2016 taxation year appeal remained unresolved.

9Mr. Hockenhull affirms that soon after making the 2016 taxation year appeal, he received a Property Assessment Notice for the 2017 to 2020 taxation years which provided that “[t]he January 1, 2016 assessed value and classification of your property will be used as the basis for calculating your 2017 to 2020 property taxes”. He affirms that he did not understand the difference between the 2016 taxation year and the January 1, 2016 valuation day which establishes the assessed values for the 2017 to 2020 taxation years. He assumed, based on the wording of the Property Assessment Notice and because it was received so soon after he filed his 2016 taxation year appeal, that his 2016 taxation year appeal would determine the Property’s assessment for 2017 to 2020.

10Mr. Hockenhull argues that the wording of MPAC’s Property Assessment Notice along with the delay in the resolution of his 2016 taxation year appeal attributed to his misinterpretation. Mr. Hockenhull argues that his late appeal should be allowed, in part, because the Board has not resolved his appeal in three years and had it been resolved in a timely fashion, he would have been aware of his need to file appeals for the subsequent years at an earlier date.

11Although his request to file a late appeal is for the 2017 taxation year, he states that his intention is to appeal the 2018 to 2020 taxation years as well pursuant to the deeming provision in the Act (see s. 40(26)).

12Ms. Roper of MPAC argues that Mr. Hockenhull did not comply with the Act which requires that he file an appeal for the 2017 taxation year. In her submissions, Ms. Roper lists the numerous communications between MPAC and Mr. Hockenhull which occurred from June 2018 to June 2019, including Minutes of Settlement which were sent to Mr. Hockenhull in June 2018.

13Ms. Roper argues that the Moving Party cannot file a late appeal because he has not met all three tests set out in Rule 26(b).

Late Appeal

14Rule 26(b) of the Board’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (“Rules”) sets out the Board’s authority to accept a late appeal. It provides that:

The Board may accept an appeal received after the time set out in the Assessment Act only if the appellant satisfies the Board, by way of affidavit evidence, that:

(b) the appellant is a person entitled to receive a notice of assessment who did not receive notice and filed the appeal with the Board within 30 days of becoming aware of the assessment or classification that is the subject of the appeal.

Entitled to Notice

15The first requirement set out in Rule 26(b) is that the prospective appellant is entitled to receive a notice of assessment. This has not been disputed. Therefore, I find that the Moving Party meets the first part of the test.

Did Not Receive Notice

16The second requirement set out in Rule 26(b) is that the Moving Party did not receive the notice of assessment in question.

17Mr. Hockenhull affirms that he received the Property Assessment Notice for the 2017 to 2020 taxation years but that he misunderstood the contents and assumed his 2016 appeal results would be applied to these subsequent years. Despite contacting this Board and MPAC numerous times between filing his appeal in 2016 and filing this motion in 2019, Mr. Hockenhull does not say that he sought clarification on his assumption. The Board does not accept Mr. Hockenhull’s argument that, had the 2016 appeal occurred earlier, he would have known to file appeals for the current cycle. The Property Assessment Notice, which he submitted in his evidence to the Board, sets out the deadlines to appeal each of the taxation years that are subject to that notice. He also submitted a copy of the 2016 taxation year Minutes of Settlement which addresses only the 2016 taxation year; there is no mention of the 2017 to 2020 taxation years.

18Mr. Hockenhull did receive the Property Assessment Notice and, therefore, has not met the second requirement of Rule 26(b).

Timely Application

19The third requirement set out in Rule 26(b) is that the Moving Party filed an appeal within “30 days of becoming aware of the assessment or classification that is the subject of the appeal.” Mr. Hockenhull’s evidence is that he first became aware of the assessment or classification for the 2017 to 2020 assessment cycle when he received the Property Assessment Notice in 2016. More than 30 days have passed between that date and the date he filed this motion.

20The Board’s Rule 17 provides that timelines in the Rules can be altered. While I am able to consider altering the 30-day time limit, the use of the word “and” in Rule 26(b) indicates that all three elements of the Rule must be satisfied for a prospective Appellant to be successful: the Appellant is a person entitled to receive a notice of assessment, the Appellant did not receive that notice and the appellant filed an appeal within 30 days of becoming aware of the assessment or classification that is the subject of the appeal. Because Mr. Hockenhull failed to meet the second element of the test, alteration of the time limit will not change the conclusion.

CONCLUSION

21The Moving Party meets only one of the three requirements of Rule 26(b). Accordingly, the motion to a file late appeal for the 2017 taxation year is denied.

“Joanne Laws”

JOANNE LAWS

MEMBER

Assessment Review Board

A constituent tribunal of Tribunals Ontario - Environment and Land Division

Website: www.elto.gov.on.ca Telephone: 416-212-6349 Toll Free: 1-866-448-2248