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Property Assessments for Ontario Horse Farms
Update: Feb 03, 2005
Minister of Finance to address concerns of equestrian facility owners
TORONTO, Feb. 3, 2005
The Ontario government today directed the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) to review the criteria for the property tax classification of equestrian facilities. "I have asked MPAC to meet with representatives from equestrian associations to develop appropriate criteria for assessing equestrian facilities," Finance Minister Greg Sorbara said. "I expect to see a report about these criteria within the next month."
For the 2004 and 2005 taxation years, the property assessment and tax classification of several dozen horse farms and equestrian facilities across Ontario was changed from either "farm" or "residential" to "commercial," resulting in significant tax changes for many establishments. Pending the outcome of the review, the Minister of Finance has requested that MPAC not make any further changes to the classification of equestrian facilities.
"Last fall, the government addressed similar concerns about unexpected property tax classification changes from agricultural producers of maple syrup," said Steve Peters, Minister of Agriculture and Food. "We will continue to work towards establishing clearer property classification guidelines for other specific types of activities where current guidelines are leading to inconsistent treatment."
Ontario's property tax system benefits farm property owners by providing:
- Lower property assessment treatment of farm properties
- A tax rate for qualifying farm properties that is the lowest property tax rate of any class of property
- An option which allows municipalities to further reduce the municipal tax rate on all qualifying farm properties within the municipality
- An option which allows municipalities to respond to individual cases of hardship and provide property tax relief on a case-by-case basis.
For more information visit www.gov.on.ca/fin
For further information: Sean Hamilton, Minister's Office,
(416) 325-8679;
Manuel Alas-Sevillano, Ministry of Finance, (416) 212-2155
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