Building and strengthening municipal partnerships

In early 2019, we made a strategic change so that we could serve you better. Under the leadership of Carmelo Lipsi, Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, our municipal relationship experts joined the same business unit as our assessors. This integration has strengthened our collective knowledge and understanding of your communities, how we can support you, and enabled us to be more efficient in our customer service.

We welcomed many new municipal elected officials after the October 2018 elections and, in 2019, we have enjoyed orienting these new leaders about who we are, what we do and how we can support municipalities. We continue to do this through Council presentations, meetings with local municipal partners and informational materials.

We are committed to keeping these conversations with you going, especially as we prepare to deliver the 2020 Assessment Update.

Partnerships in action

We're proud of the municipal partnerships we've developed and are working hard to demonstrate our value to you, to listen to you and to continuously improve. These stories from the field highlight some of the ways we're doing just that.

Supporting the City of Ottawa through spring flooding

through spring flooding MPAC continues to review properties during non-Assessment Update years, and will update an assessment if a change occurs. But what happens if these changes are due to damage from natural disasters like flooding, tornados or other extreme weather events? In this case, property owners of buildings damaged to the point of being unusable might contact their municipality asking about a property tax reduction or refund.

When these unfortunate situations happen, municipalities can rely on MPAC to provide the information they need to make informed decisions about tax applications and process the applications quickly.

"Many properties along the Ottawa River experienced flooding this spring, creating uncertainty and stress for many of our residents," says Mishele Joanis, Program Manager, Customer Accounts Branch, City of Ottawa. "We were again impressed with MPAC's highly collaborative approach to managing the situation. Together, we were able to find solutions so that property owners got the information they needed faster."

Delivering exceptional customer service to Tarbutt Township

Tarbutt Township Whether presenting at a Council meeting, looking into a property owner's concern, or sharing information with municipal partners at industry conferences, MPAC's knowledgeable and professional employees are committed to delivering exceptional customer service.

"In a time where customer service seems to be lacking, I think MPAC has achieved a high customer service standard," explains Caryn Orchard, Deputy Clerk-Treasurer, Tarbutt Township. "From the dealings that I have had with your employees, they have been nothing short of kind, helpful and knowledgeable. I feel that going forward with MPAC and the culture that it is trying to represent, you have some excellent staff to get you there."