Barrie Clulow

I was cleaning out my inbox and came acroos this and thought it was worth repeating

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants &children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because,

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms.......

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good .

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

Never has there been such a quest for Truth, such a yearning for Peace, such a longing for Love

Never such a striving to understand and to be Understood

Never has there been such a need for the Spirit that is Christmas

At this beautiful season let us all remember that the greatest gift of all is love.
My you have a loving Christmas surrounded by family and friends.
From our House to Yours
We wish You all the Blessings of Christmas
and
A Super New Year

Kathy and Barrie

The Town of Georgina has arranged with the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) to have public open house sessions for property owners to meet with Assessors to discuss any property assessment issues.

When

Tuesday, Dec 9th from 8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday, December 10th from 12:00 noon - 8:00pm

Where

At the civic centre in the first floor council chambers.

Take Your Assessment Notice

Taking your assessment notice with you will make it easier for the assessor to find the information on your property. While you are going to get answers about your assessment they will also ask you questions about your property to ensure the information they have is accurate.

My past experiences with this process is they offer very little information in answer to your questions but that may just be my experience because of the type of detail I seek. I am sure they will provide general information and if there are any glaring errors they will direct you in the process of having them rectified and your assessment adjusted either up or down as the case may be. You may have to follow up with a request for reconsideration and even an appeal.

With the average assessed home in Georgina going up 14.5% you should be looking very closely at what they say your home went up. If you are unhappy then make sure no errors were made in the calculation of your assessment. When checking for errors do not just answer questions about your property ask questions about how the assessment was calculated and what factors were used and the effect they had in determining your assessment

Stay Tuned --- .

Earlier posts in the series

You and "YOUR" Propertry Tax Bill -- Assessment Errors Can Be Costly
Understanding Residential Property Assessment in Ontario - #7 in a series on property taxes
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Is Your Assessment Fair and Equitable
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- OUCH!!!!!
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Your Assessment Notice Is In The Mail
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Mill Rate Idiosyncrasy's
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Is Current Value Assessment (CVA) A Better Way?
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Who Takes The Biggest Bite?

It will be interesting to watch what happens to

"Your" Property Tax Bill

With province wide re-assessment affecting
your 2009 property tax bill.

Statistics

As explained in my last post Understanding Residential Property Assessment in Ontario the assessment world uses statistical analysis in determining your property assessment. If the information used in that statistical analysis is flawed or incomplete then the analysis itself will be flawed and resulting assessments will be incorrect.

Benjamin Disraeli once said there are three kinds of lies: lies damned lies and statistics. Evan Esar is credited with the statement that statistics is the only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions.

Meanwhile Garbage In, Garbage Out even if it is taken as gospel it can still be grabage.

"Garbage In, Garbage Out (abbreviated to GIGO) is a phrase in the field of computer science or ICT. It is used primarily to call attention to the fact that computers will unquestioningly process the most nonsensical of input data and produce nonsensical output, ......."

" ........ Decision-makers increasingly face computer-generated information and analyses that could be collected and analyzed in no other way. Precisely for that reason, going behind that output is out of the question, even if one has good cause to be suspicious. In short, the computer analysis becomes the gospel."

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The proof as they say is in the pudding

In a recent letter to the editor A. Summerhayes was questioning the "absurd" assessment on his property. The property he described as being a 30 acre lot that is low with about 6 acres being flooded by a beaver dam. His assessment went from $50,000 in 2005 to $380,000 in 2008. That is an increase of $330,000 or a 660% increase. Needless to say several questions as to the rational for this immediately came to mind. At first I wondered if the figures quoted were incorrect then I wondered if a new home or building had been added to the property?

Finally my curiosity got the best of me and I contacted Mr. Summerhayes to verify the information in his letter.

What he told me just floored me.

While the information in the letter was correct it was not the end of the story, Not only was there no buildings on the property but it was virtually landlocked and subject to an Environmental Protection zoning. Later in our conversation he also informed me that to their credit the assessment department informed him later that it was incorrect and that it would be reduced back to the 2005 level.

This begs the question was it garbage in garbage out or was the formula, or the assessment model, that was used to determine the assessment poorly done or is there some other explanation how this could happen?

You might think that this rarely happens but I would disagree as this is not the first time that assessments in Georgina were terribly skewed. During an earlier reassessment thirty-two property owners in the Catering Road area received Assessments showing increases as high as 389%. While Officials with the MPAC said a clerical error had been made in "classifying" the properties. An error of this magnitude should never have happened or if as they say it was a clerical error it should have stood out like a sore thumb and been rectified long before the assessments were released to the public.

With the average assessed home in Georgina going up 14.5% you should be looking very closely at what they say your home went up. If you are unhappy then make sure no errors were made in the calculation of your assessment. When checking for errors do not just answer questions about your property ask questions about how the assessment was calculated and what factors were used and the effect they had in determining your assessment

Stay Tuned --- .

Earlier posts in the series

Understanding Residential Property Assessment in Ontario - #7 in a series on property taxes
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Is Your Assessment Fair and Equitable
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- OUCH!!!!!
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Your Assessment Notice Is In The Mail
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Mill Rate Idiosyncrasy's
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Is Current Value Assessment (CVA) A Better Way?
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Who Takes The Biggest Bite?

It will be interesting to watch what happens to

"Your" Property Tax Bill

With province wide re-assessment taking place
for your 2009 property tax bill.

Supporters of full market value assessment (Current Value Assessment or CVA as it's now called) would have you believe that the value on your assessment notice represents the market value of your property as of a given date, currently January 1st 2008 for taxation in 2009.

If they were to study the assessment process they would find this may not be so as a single formula or assessment "model" as it is called by the assessment world is used to determine the value of all properties in a given area or neighbourhood.

The multiple regressional analysis (MRA) process utilized by the assessment department requires large numbers of sales to accurately predict values. While the process is capable of producing quality assessed values in municipalities where the housing stock is primarily all new subdivision homes it starts to fail in rural municipalities (such as Georgina and Uxbridge) where the housing stock is very mixed. A major reason for the failure is the small amount of sales available to analyze.

The Process

The assessment process is broken down into a series of tasks. To better understand the assessment process one needs to walk in the shoes of the local Assessor.

The Assessor checks the site and verifies the lot size and locations as well as topography and neighborhood information. He takes exterior dimensions of all the structures and draws a diagram showing the dimensions (for later use in sq. ft. calculations)

Inadvertent errors can be costly to the taxpayer

In a new subdivision the assessor may only measure one home of each model being built. I have seen where this meant that a homeowner was paying taxes based on a finished room over the garage that did not exist in his home but did in the model measured.

While inspecting the exterior and interior he will note the quality of construction and materials as well as any additional information required such as: basement height, finished area and quality of finished area, number and types of plumbing fixtures, fireplaces, is the property on well and septic, does it have restrictions such as easements or any other factor that would affect the value. The quality designation which can have a substantial impact on the assessed value of your home can vary from assessor to assessor as it represents his or her personal subjective opinion. (there are other steps in the process that "may" also be tainted by personal subjective opinion)

Environmental factors affect assessments

In the past a closed industrial dump led to a reduction for two entire subdivisions during an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) while an appeal based on a hydro corridor was denied by the Assessment Review Board (ARB) and now the information bulletin that came with your assessment notice says that a hydro corridor may affect the assessment.

Improperly classified homes can be costly to the taxpayer

The incorrect classification for an entire subdivision was downgraded during the appeal process because they were misclassified by the original assessor resulting in a savings of approximately 5% for the taxpayer

After using the above information to calculate the replacement cost new (RCN) of your home the assessment department will establish land values by deducting the RCN from the sale price on properties they have determined are valid sales.

The established land values are then subtracted from the valid sales and the remaining information is subjected to analysis using the MRA process. While the goal is to achieve assessments that are within 5%, either way, of actual time adjusted sales, any one who understands the MRA process and how it is applied to assessment knows that your assessment could be too high or to low by as much as 20% from the real world of an actual sale. For example a $300,000 home could have an assessment anywhere from $240,000 and $360,000 and still be considered equitable by the assessment department.

Actual appeals show it can be worse

There is on record where during a hearing here in Ontario an assessor stated that a property that was demonstrated to be high by 40% was fair and equitable.

All this analysis leads to a computerized formula (know as the assessment model) which is then applied to all residential properties in a given area to calculate the assessed values.

Understanding How Your Assessment was determined

If you are interested in understanding the assessment model and how it was applied to your property (in the calculation of your assessment) go to your local Assessment Office (not your municipal or city tax office)and ask for a print out of the MRA. calculation details on your property along with the residential structure enquiry and site enquiry print outs.

While the names of the print outs may have changed the basic information on them will not

The Formula or Assessment Model

The following is taken from an MRA calculation details sheet in Georgina a few years ago. You will find that although they are not exactly the same they will be somewhat similar for property anywhere in Ontario.

The names of the various factors found here may change if different factors are considered in your area but the process will be the same. The value's orf each factor and how they are calculated will also change.

You will find (in dealing with residential properties) it contains the primary values called "INTERCEPT" a basic value assigned to all properties and "N/HBHD" a value adjustment factor up or down for neighborhood factors affecting values in your area.

Next is a list of standard variations "STD VAR" which when multiplied by the established coefficient (established by the MRA process) produces a value that is added or subtracted from the basic value

Sample Variables:

"SAN_SEPT" or septic system, "WTR_WELL" which is water from a private well, SQRT_LSZ or the square root of your actual lot size, "BATHS" a value determined by the number and or possibly quality of bathrooms, "EFFSQFT" the effective age x the square footage, along with another variation would see QU1FLRAR quality adjusted 1st floor area combined with SQREFGSF which is the square root of the effective age times the total area

The application of this information to the data collected on your property will result in the assessed value or CVA .

Stay Tuned --- .

Earlier posts in the series

You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Is Your Assessment Fair and Equitable
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- OUCH!!!!!
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Your Assessment Notice Is In The Mail
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Mill Rate Idiosyncrasy's
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Is Current Value Assessment (CVA) A Better Way?
You and "YOUR" Property Tax Bill -- Who Takes The Biggest Bite?

It will be interesting to watch what happens to

"Your" Property Tax Bill

With province wide re-assessment taking place
for your 2009 property tax bill.