Think Oakville is growing like crazy?
According to the latest data from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), you are absolutely right.
Oakville added $1.55 billion in property value in 2023, according to the agency responsible for assessing properties across Ontario.
That lands it fourth on MPAC’s list of Top 10 municipalities, trailing only Toronto, Ottawa and Vaughan in adding new property value.
And to put that into context, the whole province’s property inventory grew by $42 billion in 2023. That means just the town Oakville is responsible for 3.7 percent of the province's total new property value this year.
This year’s new assessment follows on $1.1 billion in assessment added to the town in 2022.
Home improvements and new residential development, including condominiums, accounted for $1.04 billion of Oakville’s 2023 growth. The town also added $186 million in purpose-built multi-residential rental accommodation.
The remaining assessment growth is in commercial, institutional and industrial property.
To be counted, properties had to be fully completed and occupied in 2023.
The annual assessment roll detailing each Oakville property was delivered to the town this week and will be used to help determine 2024 property taxes.
While local residents often complain about the traffic and density resulting from the town’s rapid development, that growth also brings in new tax revenues and spreads the tax burden among more people.
According to a press release from MPAC, the assessed value of more than 5.6 million properties in Ontario is now estimated to be approximately $3.14 trillion.
In Oakville, the total value of all property is assessed at $74.1 billion.
But don’t be surprised if the assessed value of your property seems quite different than what you think it would sell for.
Your assessment is based on what your property was worth on Jan. 1, 2016.
For new developments, MPAC searches out sales data on similar new properties developed in 2016 to assign an appropriate assessment, says Carmelo Lipsi, MPAC’s vice president of valuation and customer relations.
A province-wide reassessment of property values was due in 2020, in keeping with MPAC’s four-year reassessment schedule. The province cancelled that undertaking as a result of the pandemic and it has not yet been rescheduled.
Relying on market data from almost eight years ago to create property assessments isn’t perfect, admits Lipsi.
Reliance on older data runs the danger that shifts in market demand that make a neighbourhood more or less desirable are not accurately captured.
He says that MPAC is committed to updates and that "being more responsive and conducting more regular periodic assessment updates is ideal."
To learn more about your property assessment and how it relates to the amount of property tax you pay, go to mpac.ca
Lipsi says the About My Property link will allow residents to see all their assessed value and the information that agency has on the property, as well as to compare the assessment to neighbouring and comparable properties.
If you disagree with your assessment, you may file a free Request for Reconsideration. If you aren’t satisfied with the results, you may file an appeal with the Assessment Review Board.