Current Value Assessment in the Greater Toronto Area

The political response to the redistributive impacts of the property tax assessment reform in Ontario has caused a long period of controversy. The modern reform process began in 1967 and in 1997, the Provincial Government passed “The Fair Municipal Finance Act, 1997” which provided the legal basis of implementing market value assessment, redefined the assessment property classes, eliminated the business occupancy tax, permitted municipalities to apply variable tax rates for the various assessment classes within some provincial parameters, and authorized the application of other “tax tools.” This paper discusses the key impacts of the reform and the Provincial response to these impacts.