P.S. v. Township of Laird, 2022 CanLII 104008

Tribunals Ontario

Tribunaux décisionnels Ontario

Assessment Review Board

Commission de révision de l’évaluation foncière

ISSUE DATE:

November 03, 2022

FILE NO.:

WR 181996

Assessed Person (s):

P.S.

Appellant(s):

P.S.

Respondent(s):

Township of Laird

Property Location(s):

Address Withheld

Municipality(ies):

Township of Laird

Roll Number(s):

Roll Number Withheld

Appeal Number(s):

3483963

Taxation Year(s):

2021

Hearing Event No.:

776870

Legislative Authority:

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

Parties

Representative

P.S.

Self-represented

Township of Laird

Jennifer Errington

HEARD:

October 27, 2022 by telephone conference call

ADJUDICATOR(S):

Subuola Awoleri, Member

DECISION

OVERVIEW

1P.S. (the “Applicant”) filed an application to the Township of Laird (the “Town”) to have his 2021 property taxes reduced, cancelled or refunded because he was unable to pay these taxes due to either sickness or extreme poverty under section 357(1)(d.1) of the Municipal Act, S.O. 2001, c. 25.

2The City passed a by-law delegating its authority to determine such applications to the Assessment Review Board (the “Board”).

3At the completion of the hearing, the Board reserved its decision.

ISSUE

4The Board must determine if all or part of the Applicant’s 2021 property taxes should be cancelled, reduced or refunded as a result of the Applicant’s inability to pay due to sickness or extreme poverty. In order to make this determination, the Board must determine:

a) if the Applicant was unable to pay all or part of his property taxes;

b) if the Board finds that he was unable to pay all or part of his property taxes, the Board must determine if the inability to pay was due to either sickness or extreme poverty; and

c) if the Board determines that he was unable to pay due to sickness or extreme poverty, the Board must then decide on the amount of the property taxes levied in 2021 to be cancelled, reduced or refunded.

Result

5The Board finds that the Applicant was unable to pay the property taxes levied on the Subject Property in 2021, due to sickness. The Board determines that the amount of $2,056.63 levied in 2021 be cancelled.

ANALYSIS

Issue 1- Was the Applicant able to pay his 2021 Property taxes?

6A determination by the Board of the Applicant’s ability to pay his property taxes requires a contextual analysis of the Applicant’s income and expenses and an examination of all financial resources available to him in 2021. This will be used to determine if he could have mitigated his property tax obligation.

Income

7The Applicant testified that in 2021, he had a monthly income of $1,312.86. The sources of the Applicant’s income are Canada Pension Plan, disability pension, GST / HST rebates, provincial income support. The Applicant presented a spreadsheet of his 2021 income and expenses, which was further corroborated by his 2021 bank account statements.

Expenses

8The Applicant’s undisputed monthly expenses in 2021 was $1,342.37. When subtracting the total monthly income from the monthly expenses, the net income is ($-29.51).

9Upon further review of the Applicant’s monthly expenses as presented by the Applicant, the Board notes that it is undisputed that the Applicant lived a frugal life. He deprived himself of some basic necessities of life in order to make payments on some essential household expenses.

10The Applicant testified that he does not spend money on clothing, internet, transportation, home and auto insurance. He further added that he relies on friends and neighbours for transportation. He testified that if he had paid for home, auto, health and life insurance, he would be adding $1,071 monthly to his expenses and $108 monthly for transportation which is almost the amount of his monthly income.

Assets and Liabilities

11The parties agree that the current value assessment of the subject property provided by Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (“MPAC”) is $150,000. The total undisputed asset owned by the Applicant in 2021 was $159,814.17.

12The total undisputed liabilities in 2021, was $675,941. The Applicant presented a personal assessment statement from his bank to corroborate his testimony. His net asset was ($-516,126.83). The Town did not disagree with this amount.

13The Town testified that the Applicant’s 2021 property taxes were not outstanding and that the Applicant has a $0 balance from a credit that was applied from a previous Board decision.

Finding on Issue 1

14The Board finds that the Applicant would not have been able to pay all the property taxes levied in 2021.

15In a prior decision of the Board, S.C. v. Whitby (Town), [2016] O.A.R.B.D. No. 55 at paragraph 37, (“S.C.”) the Board determined that:

… the threshold for individuals who claim an inability to pay their property taxes because of sickness cannot simply be that the individuals are unable to make ends meet. The individuals must demonstrate that after having called upon every resource available to them and having explored every reasonable opportunity to mitigate their financial stresses, they have no means of being able to pay some or all of their property taxes.

The Board is of the view that the Act envisages that an individual seeking relief on application under s. 357(1)(d.1) of the Act should clearly demonstrate that for the year under appeal the Applicants had no resources available to meet their obligations to provide for the basic necessities of living and at the same time pay some or all of his/her property taxes.

16In S.C. and other prior decisions of the Board, Applicant’s must utilise all financial resources available to them to mitigate their property tax obligation and still be unable to pay all or some of their property taxes in order to qualify for relief under the Act.

17The Applicant had a deficit net income of ($-29.51), no discretionary expenses, could not afford some basic necessities of life and had utilised all the financial resources available to him. The evidence reveals that the Applicant was unable to pay the property taxes levied in 2021.

Issue 2 - Was the Inability to Pay Due to Either Sickness or Extreme Poverty?

18The Applicant testified that he suffers from OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), GTS (Gilles Tourette Syndrome) and other physical illnesses which were corroborated by two physician statements. The Town did not disagree with his testimony.

19The Board determines that the Applicant’s inability to pay all his property taxes was due to sickness.

ORDER

20The Board orders that the property taxes levied on the subject property in 2021 in the amount of $2,056.63 be cancelled.