E.S. Estate and F.S. v. City of Toronto, 2021 CanLII 54225

Tribunals Ontario

Tribunaux décisionnels Ontario

Assessment Review Board

Commission de révision de l’évaluation foncière

ISSUE DATE: June 15, 2021

FILE NO.: WR 171492

Assessed Person(s): E.S. Estate and F.S.

Appellant(s): E.S. Estate and F.S.

Respondent(s): City of Toronto

Property Location(s): Address Withheld

Municipality(ies): City of Toronto

Roll Number(s): Roll Number Withheld

Appeal Number(s): 3422823

Taxation Year(s): 2019

Hearing Event No.: 745765

Legislative Authority: Section 323(1)(e) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 11, Sched. A

APPEARANCES:

Parties

Representative

E.S. Estate and F.S.

No one appeared

City of Toronto

Graham Thomson and Selena Mynttinen

HEARD: June 9, 2021 by telephone conference call

ADJUDICATOR(S): Margarita Okhovati, Member

DECISION

OVERVIEW

1F.S. (the “Applicant”) filed an application to the City of Toronto (the “City”) to have her 2019 property taxes reduced, cancelled or refunded because she was unable to pay due to either sickness or extreme poverty under s. 323 (1)(e) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 11, Sched. A.

2Mr. F.S., son of the Applicant and the beneficiary of the E.S. Estate is the representative of the Applicant and the E.S. Estate.

3A pre-hearing telephone conference call was held on January 25, 2021 to provide information regarding the full hearing that was to be scheduled, and to confirm all the necessary documents to be provided to the Assessment Review Board (the “Board”) and the City prior to the full hearing to support the Application. At the pre-hearing telephone conference, it was determined that the full telephone conference hearing would be held on March 8, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. and that Mr. F.S. needed to serve and file the required documentation to the City and the Board by February 16, 2021.

4The Board issued a Procedural Order (DM 168192) on February 4, 2021. This outlined the information that was discussed at the pre-hearing conference and confirmed the required documents that Mr. F.S. had to provide and file with the City and the Board to support the application.

5On February 19, 2021, Mr. F.S. requested the Board to extend the deadline for filing the documents due to COVID-19, and his limited access to his emails. On March 2, 2021, the Board granted the request for additional time and extended the date to March 8, 2021. Later, a peremptory hearing was scheduled for full hearing on April 30, 2021 and the Notice of Hearing was sent to Mr. F.S.

6Mr. F.S., neither filed the required documents within the specified timeframe nor attended the full hearing on April 30, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. On the recommendation of Counsel for the City, the Case Coordinator of the Board was contacted and asked to call Mr. F.S. to enquire the reason of his non-attendance. Mr. F.S. indicated to the Case Coordinator that he never received the Notice of Hearing regarding the full hearing date and that he was willing to participate in the hearing. At 9:50 a.m. Mr. F.S. accessed the hearing through telephone conference.

7At the hearing, Mr. F.S. stated that he never received the Notice of Hearing and never filed the required documents because of his limited access to his emails.

8Mr. F.S. stated that if the Board granted another adjournment and set the date of the next full hearing after the May 20, 2021 lockdown, he would try to comply with the Board’s requirements with respect to the documents. He stated that he had already prepared some of the documents.

9Rather than dismissing the Application, as the Board could have done for failing to comply with the Board’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (“Rules”), the Board decided to exercise its discretion by granting another adjournment to Mr. F.S.

10On May 26, 2021, the Board sent an adjournment motion to Mr. F.S. with a Notice of Hearing for June 9, 2021 hearing, with the following order by both email and regular mail.

ORDER

The Board orders that the full peremptory teleconference hearing to be adjourned to June 9 at 9:30 a.m. by teleconference. This hearing will be peremptory and no further adjournments or extensions to deliver the required documents will be granted, unless new exceptional circumstances arise.

All documentation sent to the Municipality must be copied to the Board, and all the documentation sent to the Board must be copied to the Municipality pursuant to Rule 9.

Mr. F.S. shall notify the Board prior to the hearing on June 9, 2021, if for any reason, he is unable to provide all the necessary documents and state his position whether he decides to withdraw the Application.

A doctor’s note to be sent to the Board to substantiate the medical problem of Mr. F.S. prior to the June 9 hearing, should Mr. F.S. file an Expediated Board Directions (“EBD”) request for adjournment.

The Board will send the Notice of Hearing to Mr. F.S. for June 9, 2021 hearing both by email and regular mail.

CONCLUSION

11Mr. F.S. did not attend the June 9, 2021 hearing. He never contacted the Board or the City prior to the hearing date as well to explain as to why he failed to disclose the required documents to make a determination regarding this application, despite the Board’s several directions in this respect.

ORDER

12The Board therefore orders the application filed by the Applicant with the City of Toronto to cancel, reduce or refund of 2019 taxes as a result of the Applicant’s inability to pay due to sickness or extreme poverty to be dismissed.