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Ombudsman contact numbers: (416) 586-3300 | Toll-Free:1-800-263-1830 | Fax:(416) 586-3485 | TTY:(416) 586-3510
Special Investigation Hotline: 1-866-623-7678
October 9, 2005 - Ombudsman weighs options on assessments - The Ottawa Citizen
Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin said yesterday a formal investigation by his office of the province's property assessment agency "is probable."
Five members of his Special Ombudsman Response Team are working through the weekend to determine whether the system operated by MPAC -- the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation -- is so unfair and unjust that an investigation is warranted.
Mr. Marin said investigators from his office have been visiting MPAC offices for months to obtain information about property assessment across Ontario . He said even members of the Assessment Review board, the tribunal that handles assessment appeals, have complained that MPAC ignores their decisions.
The lead investigator on the case is Garreth Jones, a former Scotland Yard detective. Mr. Marin said he will decide within a week whether to conduct a formal inquiry.
"I want to insure that there is a strong prima facie (sufficient) case for intervention," Mr. Marin said. "If we launch an investigation, there would be half a dozen to a dozen investigators fanning across a problem area, seizing files, doing interviews and producing transcripts.
"It is very resource intensive so before we decide to send in the cavalry, we need to demonstrate a strong case that there is injustice. The investigation might take as little as 30 days, but there is so much interest and it is a complex area. We will have a better idea later how long it could take."
In a letter to Ottawa Mayor Bob Chiarelli, Mr. Marin said the city is in an uproar over MPAC. "When the mayor of the second-largest city in Ontario publicly complains to the premier, I would be remiss in my duty as ombudsman if I didn't take a closer look at the issue."
An investigation would make recommendations and issue a report on Ontario 's property assessment system.
Mr. Marin's office is currently focusing on the administration of the property assessment system and how it treats Ontario citizens, not on individual assessment cases.
It is examining the methodology of MPAC's computer system and the failure to consider past re-evaluations of assessment before new assessments are made.
"We are interested in the transparency of the system," Mr. Marin said. "People want to know where they stand. We have complaints from citizens who don't understand how MPAC has appraised their properties."
MPAC is a non-profit corporation that has 34 offices across Ontario and assesses more than 4.4 million properties every two years. Its property assessment notices have been the basis of municipal tax bills across the province since 1998.
MPAC also prepares voters' lists for civic elections every three years and reports the population of each municipality in Ontario .
Richard Patten, Ottawa Centre Liberal MPP, said he believes a full investigation of how MPAC operates is justified.
Mr. Patten said he and his wife successfully appealed their property assessment twice. He said they hired a lawyer the second time because the appeal process is so cumbersome and time-consuming.
"We have received a couple of dozen complaints during the past week," Mr. Patten said. "In my case they reduced my assessment the first time, but the second assessment took no notice of that and was still high.
"This time we paid a couple hundred bucks to a lawyer because it took so much of my wife's time to do the research on five other houses that were compared to ours. How many people can do that kind of research?"
Mr. Patten said an investigation of MPAC is warranted if people are losing confidence in the province's property assessment system because it ignores successful appeals.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2005
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