Realty Taxes: What To do When the Assessor Drops the Ball

In Ontario, before 1998, even though no separate property tax bills were issued to tenants in shopping centre and other multi-occupant commercial projects, separate assessments were issued by the assessment authority (the "Assessor:) because business taxes were calculated on a tenant-by-tenant basis and were based on each tenant's separate assessment. Since these separate assessments formed the basis of business tax liability, the process of establishing the separate assessments was subject to checks and balances and rights of appeal existed for individual tenants. The Assessor determined the total assessment for each project by determining the rental values of each rental unit within the project.  The total of those rental values was calculated, a vacancy factor was applied, and a capitalization factor was used to determine the total assessment for the project. This process provided a generally fair and reliable method for apportioning real property taxes to tenants. 

Read the full article here: Realty Taxes – What to do When Assessor Drops the Ball- July 28-2009