Tribunals Ontario

Assessment Review Board

ISSUE DATE: September 21, 2022 FILE NO.: WR 181542 Assessed Person(s): R.A. Applicant(s): R.A. Respondent(s): City of Mississauga Property Location(s): Address Withheld Municipality(ies): City of Mississauga Roll Number(s): Roll Number Withheld Appeal Number(s): 3483965 Taxation Year(s): 2021 Hearing Event No.: 769265 Legislative Authority: Section 357(1)(d1) of the Municipal Act 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25

APPEARANCES:

Parties	Representative
R.A.	Self-represented
City of Mississauga	Sean Doyle

HEARD: August 9, 2022 by telephone conference call

ADJUDICATOR(S): Dan Weagant, Member

DECISION

OVERVIEW

1R.A. (the “Applicant”) filed an application with the City of Mississauga (“City”) to have his 2021 property taxes cancelled, reduced or refunded because he was unable to pay, due to either sickness or extreme poverty, under s. 357(1)(d1) of the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25 (“Act”).

2The City has passed a by-law, delegating its authority to determine such applications to the Assessment Review Board (“Board”) under s. 357(11) of the Act.

Background

3In late 2019, the Applicant became ill and was unable to perform the tasks required of his job. He qualified for disability support owing to his illness until the early part of 2020.

4As the pandemic restrictions continued, the Applicant successfully applied for the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (“CERB”) and received CERB payments from the government, throughout 2021.

Issues for the Hearing

5At issue in this proceeding is whether the Applicant’s 2021 property taxes should be cancelled, reduced or refunded because of his inability to pay, due to sickness or extreme poverty. This requires the Board to determine:

1. if the Applicant was unable to pay his 2021 property taxes;
2. if the Board determines he was unable to pay his property taxes, the Board must then determine if the reason he was unable to pay was either sickness or extreme poverty; and
3. if the Board determines he was unable to pay due to sickness or extreme poverty, the Board must then decide the amount of the property taxes levied in 2020 to be cancelled, reduced or refunded.

Result

6The Board finds that the Applicant was able to pay the property taxes levied in 2021. The application is dismissed.

ANALYSIS

Issue 1 – Was the Applicant able to pay his property taxes in 2021?

7The Applicant’s documents and testimony indicated that the household income in 2020 was derived from:

• Income per CRA net of taxes paid: $32,230
• Canadian Income Tax Refund for 2020 Tax return: $3,311
• Regular monthly deposits from family and friends: $82,589

8The total income reported by the Applicant and supported by documentary evidence at the hearing was $118,130.

9Bank records provided by the Applicant show a total opening balance of approximately $6,822 on January 3, 2021and a closing balance of approximately $4,417 at the end of December 2021. These totals were drawn from records of five separate bank accounts.

10Those records also show that household expenses were paid throughout 2021, as follows.

• Mortgage: $42,000
• Utilities (natural gas, electricity, water and sewer, cable): $8,873
• Insurance: $1,990
• Credit card payments: $25,975
• Loan re-payment to family and friends: $28,582

11The City submitted that the total taxes levied in 2021 was $6,143.43, and that there were no payments made to the property tax account for 2021.

Findings on Issue 1

12The Board must first determine if the Applicant was able to pay his property taxes, based on the evidence available at the hearing.

13In M. M. U. v Toronto (City), 2015 CanLII 46826 (ON ARB) (“M.M.U.”), the Board held that:

In order to qualify under this section of the Act, the Applicant is required to show that every reasonable effort has been made to pay all or part of the taxes. There is an expectation that to qualify for relief under this section of the Act the condition cannot be one where an individual simply cannot make ends meet but amounts to a situation where the Applicant after having called upon every resource available to him and having applied every reasonable means to mitigate and manage his expenditures is left with no means of being able to pay some or all of their property taxes.

14M.M.U. is instructive in this case. It requires an Applicant to make use of the resources available to first address his expenses relating to the necessities of life and to maintain his property. In this case, the Applicant has demonstrated that he was able to draw on his own resources, and those of family and friends as a means of meeting his financial obligations throughout 2021.

15The Board heard in testimony that there were no loan agreements to accompany these payments and that no interest was being charged by family and friends on these temporary loans.

16In 2021 the Applicant had a total of approximately $118,000 in deposits to his bank accounts. Over the same time period, he incurred approximately $107,000 in expenses. This represents a surplus of approximately $11,000 for 2021. This is clear evidence that the Applicant drew from the resources available to him to meet his obligations.

17Despite having $11,000 in surplus income once all expenses were paid, no payments were made on the property tax account. This does not meet the standard required of the Act for a successful application. The Act requires that the Applicant prove an inability to pay property taxes.

18The Board finds therefore, that the Applicant has failed to demonstrate that he was unable to pay the property taxes levied in 2021. Accordingly, the Board also finds that there is no reason to determine the reason for any inability to pay.

ORDER

19The application is dismissed.