Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Yes.

Not receiving a tax bill does not change your responsibility to pay your property taxes by the due date.

Contact the Treasury Department if you have not received your bill. We can confirm your balance and upcoming due dates.

A penalty of 1.25% is applied to unpaid taxes on the first business day of the month following the due date.

A further 1.25% is applied on the first business day of each month while the balance remains unpaid.

Property tax penalties apply when taxes are not paid by the due date.

The City makes reasonable efforts to send tax bills to the mailing address on the account. Property owners are responsible for knowing the amount of taxes owing and the applicable due dates.

Contact the Treasury Department if you believe there is an error with your account.

Your tax bill shows your balance and payment due dates.

You can also contact the Treasury Department for information about your tax account.

If you recently purchased the property, check your lawyer's Statement of Adjustments for the tax adjustment made at closing.

Your lawyer's Statement of Adjustments shows the property taxes you were responsible for at closing.

Contact the Treasury Department to confirm:

• the outstanding balance
• upcoming due dates
• the ownership information on the City's records

All outstanding property taxes are payable to the City.

A newly purchased property may initially be assessed as land only.

Once construction is complete, MPAC may assess the new building.

The City may then issue a supplementary tax bill for the additional assessment.

Plan for the possibility of a supplementary tax bill when building a new home.

A supplementary tax bill may be issued when a change to your property results in a change to its assessed value or tax classification.

A common example is a newly constructed home.

A supplementary bill may include taxes for a previous period.

Your lawyer's Statement of Adjustments shows the property tax adjustment made when you sold the property.

The amount on the Statement of Adjustments may be different from the total amount of payments you made directly to the City.

Keep your Statement of Adjustments for your records and income tax purposes.

If you are changing mortgage companies, renewing your mortgage, taking payments over from your mortgage company or allowing your mortgage company to make payments on your behalf, your mortgage company will make all of the necessary changes with the City of St. Thomas.

You may contact the Treasury Department to verify that we have received the new information.

MPAC determines your property's assessed value and tax classification.

The City uses this information to calculate your property taxes.

Current Value Assessment is the method MPAC uses to assess properties for property tax purposes.

The assessment is based on the estimated value of a property as of the legislated valuation date.

Ontario properties are currently assessed using a January 1, 2016 valuation date.

No.

Your assessment is the value assigned to your property for property tax purposes.

Your property tax bill is calculated using your assessment and the applicable tax rates.

Property taxes are affected by both your assessment and the applicable tax rates.

Municipal tax rates are set annually by City Council.

Education tax rates are set by the Province of Ontario.

A change in your tax bill does not necessarily mean your assessment changed.

Contact MPAC if you disagree with your property's assessed value or classification.

For many properties, the first step is a Request for Reconsideration.

The deadline is shown on your Property Assessment Notice.

If you still disagree after the reconsideration process, you may be able to appeal to the Assessment Review Board.

Learn more about assessment appeals