G.S. v. City of Mississauga, 2024 CanLII 124425

Tribunals Ontario

Tribunaux décisionnels Ontario

Assessment Review Board

Commission de révision de l’évaluation foncière

ISSUE DATE: December 10, 2024

FILE NO.: WR 187153

Assessed Person(s): G.S.

Applicant(s): G.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): 3523613

Taxation Year(s): 2023

Hearing Event No.: 785177

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

APPEARANCES:

Parties	Counsel/Representative
G.S.	K.S.
City of Mississauga	Sean Doyle

HEARD: December 3, 2024 by video conference

ADJUDICATOR(S): Subuola Awoleri, Member

PROCEDURAL ORDER

OVERVIEW

1G.S. (the “Applicant”) filed an application to the City of Mississauga (the “City”) to have her 2023 property taxes reduced, cancelled or refunded because she was unable to pay these taxes due to either sickness or extreme poverty under s. 357(1)(d.1) of the Municipal Act, 2001, 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”).

Issues for the Hearing

3The issue to be determined is if the Applicant’s 2023 property taxes should be cancelled, reduced or refunded as a result of the Applicant’s inability to pay due to sickness or extreme poverty. This requires the Board to determine:

a. if the Applicant was unable to pay her property taxes;

b. if the Board finds that she was unable to pay her 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 she was unable to pay due to sickness or extreme poverty, the Board must then decide on the amount of the property taxes levied in 2023 to be cancelled, reduced or refunded.

Result

4The Board finds that the Applicant was unable to pay part of her property taxes in 2023, due to sickness. The Board therefore cancels part of the property taxes levied on the Subject Property in the amount of $3,290.41, for the 2023 taxation year.

ANALYSIS

Issue 1 – Was the Applicant able to pay her property taxes in 2023?

5A determination by the Board of the Applicant’s ability to pay her property taxes requires a contextual analysis of the Applicant’s income and expenses and an examination of all financial resources available to her in 2023. This will be used to determine if she could have mitigated her property tax obligation.

Income

6The total amount of deposits into the Applicant’s bank account in 2023 was $26,163.41. The total undisputed monthly income in 2023 was $2,180.28.

Expenses

7The Applicant’s undisputed monthly expenses in 2023 was $2,926.55. When subtracting the total monthly income from the monthly expenses, the net income is ($-746.27).

8The Applicant’s monthly income and expenses are summarized in Table 1 below:

Table 1

	Amount ($)
Income	2,180.28
Expenses
Mortgage	451.66
Property Tax	166.66
Hydro	6.84
Gas (house fuel)	192.25
Water	60.43
Cell Phone	44.00
Insurance (home)	66.17
Insurance (Car)	106.75
Gas	50.00
Cigarettes	168.50
Auto Repairs (including labour)	102.00
Medication	30.95
Food (including supplements)	700.00
Transportation	133.79
Others- Tree Cutting, snow removal, fridge & therapy outside Canada	385.72
Personal Support Worker services	133.33
Toiletries	75.00
Clothing	30.00
Credit Card Fee	12.50
Costco Membership fee	10.00
Total Monthly Expenses	2,926.55
Net Income	(-746.27)

Assets and Liabilities

9The current value assessment of the Subject Property provided by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation as of January 1, 2016, is $687,000. The City testified that two houses sold on the same street in 2022 and 2023 for $1,168,000 and $1,125,000. The City did not provide any document to support this testimony. Therefore, the Board used the current value assessment of the Subject Property as of January 1, 2016. The total undisputed assets of the Applicant was $687,209.49, and the total undisputed liability of the Applicant was $305,141.51. Subtracting this amount from the net asset of $687,209.49 provides a net worth of $382,067.98.

10The Applicant testified that she inquired about accessing the equity in the subject property through a reverse mortgage, however, due to her debt ratio, this would not be to her benefit. In addition, she testified that due to the state and condition of the subject property she was unable to rent out any of the rooms.

11The Applicant’s assets and liabilities in 2023 are summarized in Table 2 below:

Table 2

Assets	Amount ($)
Home (Current Value Assessment from MPAC)	687,000.00
Bank Account balance	209.49
Total Asset	687,209.49
Liabilities
Mortgage	129,776.00
Credit Card	1,698.00
Personal Loan	168,000.00
Personal Liability to daughter	5,187.51
Internet services paid by daughter	480.00
Total Liabilities	305,141.51
Net Asset (Total Assets Less Liabilities)	382,067.98

12The total property taxes levied on the Subject Property in 2022 was $6,056.17. The City applied a senior’s rebate of $488.00 to the Applicant’s property taxes. The total outstanding property taxes for 2023 is $5,568.17 excluding interest and penalties. The Applicant is requesting a cancellation of the amount of $5,568.17.

13The City submitted that it takes no position on this Application.

Findings on Issue 1

14In F.E.J.B. v Mississauga (City), 2019 CanLII 59502 (ON ARB) at para. 23, the Board clarified the two-stage analysis to be applied by the Board in its determination of inability to pay applications. The Board stated that:

…the Board finds that the framework for analysis should be adjusted as follows. If the Board finds there is an ability to pay, the application fails and there is no need to consider the second branch of analysis. However, if the applicant is able to demonstrate an inability to pay part or all of their property taxes, the Board must then determine whether this inability to pay was due to extreme poverty or sickness.

15This panel applied this two-stage analysis in making a determination in this Decision.

16Furthermore, in M. M. U. v Toronto (City), 2015 CanLII 46826 (ON ARB) at para. 21 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.

17A review of the Applicant’s financial documentation reveals that the Applicant used her credit card and monthly income to pay for most of her basic necessities of living.

18The Applicant used her credit card to pay for cigarettes in the amount of $2,022.00 and some expenses from Long and McQuade on May 31, 2023 for $109.33 and February 24, 2023 for $146.43, for a total of $2,277.76. The Board finds that these are discretionary expenses. Discretionary expenses must not take precedence over property taxes, see A.P. v. Toronto (City), [2018] O.A.R.B.D. No. 150 paragraph 26.

19In S. C. v Whitby (Town of), 2016 CanLII 11169 (ON ARB) at para. 37 the Board determined that:

In the Board’s view 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. In addition, the individuals must demonstrate that they have taken steps and explored every reasonable opportunity to manage their debts and mitigate their financial situation. 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.

20In E. B. v Toronto (City), 2016 CanLII 45380 (ON ARB), paras. 19 and 20, the Board determined that:

These applications are of last resort and the Applicant must have depleted all resources before making such an application.

The Applicant must demonstrate in her applications, that after managing her resources and expenditures, she has no further resources to meet the basic necessities of life in addition to paying all or some of her property taxes.

21The Board finds that the amount of $2,277.76, which the Applicant used for discretionary expenses could have been used to pay part of her property taxes.

22Therefore, the Board finds that the Applicant was unable to pay only part of her property taxes in the amount of $3,290.41.

Issue 2- Was the Inability to Pay Part of the Property Taxes due to Sickness or Extreme Poverty?

23The Board determines that the Applicant’s inability to pay part of her property taxes in 2023 in the amount of $3,290.41, was due to sickness. The City did not take any issue with the Applicant’s sickness. The Applicant presented sufficient corroborating documentary evidence from medical practitioners to prove her sickness in 2023.

CONCLUSION

24The Board finds that the Applicant’s was unable to pay part of her property taxes in 2023.

ORDER

25The Board orders that part of the Applicant’s 2023 property taxes in the amount of $3,290.41 be cancelled for the 2023 taxation year.