TASHI FARMILO
LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE
ALLEYN-ET-CAWOOD – When Angela Giroux received her municipal tax bill in February, she was stunned to find her property’s value is slated to increase by 370% in 2025. This significant jump has left many residents worried about the financial impact. Giroux and other ratepayers attended April’s council meeting; demanding council take proactive steps to address the looming issue.
Isabelle Cardinal, municipal director general, explained the complexities behind the changes. According to Cardinal, a surge in local development created a gap between current property evaluations and actual sale prices. “For instance, some lots are selling for $40,000, whereas the evaluation stands at $11,000. This gap necessitates a comparative factor of 3.7,” she told the Journal.
Cardinal emphasized the new tri-annual roll, effective in 2025, will reflect these evaluations, but doesn’t impact current taxation. The only exception is the MRC shares, which are based on the 3.7 comparative factor. “We’re working with the MRC to address this issue and possibly lower the factor,” she said.
Tim Ferrigan, MRC Pontiac director of property assessment, said Alleyn-et-Cawood is in the third year of their triennial evaluation roll. “Alleyn-et-Cawood will see their new evaluations when the 2025-2026-2027 triennial roll is deposited later this year. This process is ongoing, but the new values have yet to be determined and citizens shouldn’t assume they’ll match the standardised value for 2024,” he said.
A notice sent with 2024’s taxes outlined the median proportion, comparative factor, and standardised value for 2024, causing confusion among residents. This notice, typically distributed only in the first year of a roll, also explains the administrative review process.
“Once the process is complete and the new values are determined, the municipality will adjust their taxation rate to help control the variation in taxation amounts. Residents will have the right to appeal the new values until April 30, 2025,” added Ferrigan.
Cardinal reiterated the importance of transparency and public involvement in addressing the evaluation concerns. “We’re fighting and this is my top priority. We want to involve our community and ensure everyone is on the same page,” she said. Consequently, the municipality has formed a task force to include ratepayers in the conversation and explore potential solutions. Their first meeting was held May 20 at Bethany Hall but details of that meeting were not available at the time of press. A review of the meeting will be published in the June 5 Journal.
Photo: Alleyn-et-Cawood resident Angela Giroux implores the Council of Mayors to work together to address massive increases in property evaluations that may eventually affect the entire MRC. (BJ)