Should the future property assessment system feature property classes?
What would be the relative merits? No. Property classes result in large scale inequities in the property tax system. In Ontario each class of property pays a set proportion of the total tax bill. In addition, mill rates between different classes cannot vary by more than 15%. The consequence has been that apartment buildings and the commercial and industrial sector have increasingly been burdened with a disproportionate share of the overall property tax levy. The inequity in tax burden between property classes is also negatively affecting the efficiency and competitiveness of the Ontario economy. Under a site value system there would be no differential tax treatment by property class. What is needed are extensive tax incidence studies to determine the transitional and long-term impact on residential home-owners of abolishing the property class system. 8. Should all residential properties be similarly assessed? This question is unclear. Market value assessment by definition means that re
