The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor City council has appointed themselves as the body responsible for hearing property assessment appeals, a move that is drawing criticism from a taxpayer watchdog. A unanimous vote last Tuesday, Aug. 16 saw mayor and council form this year's board of revision, granting them say over the sanctioned market value of all properties in the community. This is a common practice for Manitoba municipalities outside Winnipeg and Brandon, but Colin Craig, provincial director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, says it's inappropriate. "If your property is assessed at, let's say, $200,000 and you protested it, council would have the incentive to have the higher value so that they can get more tax dollars from it and have more to spend," Craig told The Reminder previously. Craig suggested councils look beyond themselves when forming their boards of revision. "For Flin Flon's case, with over 5,000 residents, there should be enough qualified people to fill those spots," he said. Independend review Craig believes provincial legislation should bar councils from being their community's own boards of revision to ensure "an independent review" of appeals. But Coun. Karen MacKinnon disagreed with Craig's criticism, saying council is there to serve the best interests of the community and its citizens. With the exception of Winnipeg, a provincial assessor determines Manitoba property values for taxation purposes. Property taxes in individual communities are then applied to homes based on those assessed values. The more a home is worth, the more the owner pays. Board of revision decisions can be appealed to either the Court of Queen's Bench or The Municipal Board, depending on the grounds of appeal. Many homeowners in Flin Flon saw their property assessments soar last year. As such, even though city council lowered the mill rate in 2010, many residents had to cope with steep tax hikes.