Background:
An application under Section 357(1) of the Ontario Municipal Act, 2001 (the Act) to City Council may be made by any person and may be made at any time during the year in respect of which the application is made and until the last day of February in the following year for the cancellation, reduction or refund of taxes. Reasons for making application include but are not limited to:
a change event wherein the property is eligible to be reclassified in a different class which has a lower tax ratio and no supplementary assessment is made in respect to the changed event;
property that has become exempt from taxation during the year or during the preceding year after the return of the assessment roll;
building(s) that during the year or during the preceding year after the return of the assessment roll;
was razed by fire, demolition or otherwise, or
was damaged by fire, demolition or otherwise so as to render it substantially unusable for the purposes for which it was used immediately prior to the damage;
an overcharge by reason of any gross or MPAC error that is a clerical error, the transposition of figures, a typographical error or similar type of error, but not an error in making the assessment upon which the taxes have been levied; or
for reason of repairs or renovations the property could not be used for its normal use for a period of at least three months during the year.
An application may also be made to the City Treasurer under Section 358(1) of the Act for the cancellation, reduction or refund of taxes levied by any person who was overcharged by reason of any gross or manifest error in the preparation of the assessment roll that is clerical or factual in nature but not an error in judgment in assessing the property. Applications must be made between March 1 and December 31 of the year and may apply to taxes levied in one or both of the two preceeding taxation years.
The Act indicates that City Council may cancel, reduce or refund all or part of taxes levied on land in the year in respect of which the application is made. The decision as to the amount of tax relief to be provided (i.e. full or partial rebate) is based upon the each particular application and the degree to which each individual property is impacted by a changed event.
City Council is required to render a decision in respect of all applications by September 30 of the year following the year in respect of which the application is made. However, upon receipt of an application, Administration undertakes a review to determine both the validity and completeness of each application including verification of effective dates as