There is no need for the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation

The Ontario AG says today that MPAC not only gets many assessments very wrong, it wastes our money. A bigger question is, do we need it at all? In fact we could easily have, if the provincial government wished, a much fairer and more easily understood property tax assessment system that would save over $125,000,000 in direct costs to municipal governments, and untold millions more that private citizens expend in arguing with and appealing the assessments.

How is this possible? It's almost too simple. Instead of trying to guess a house's market value, the assessment would be set at the most recent sale price of the property, adjusted only for inflation, and if required, major disasters, renovations, or non arms length transactions. The vast majority of assessments would not require intrusive home inspections or comparisons with nearby properties. This system would also protect those who have the misfortune of having to pay property taxes they cannot afford because their neighbourhood has become more fashionable. Taxes would be based on what people could afford to pay for their home. There would be no surprises.

We already do the same for the clothing we wear -- taxes are based on what we pay for a suit or a dress, and not on what some government agency thinks it should be worth. Why not for the homes we live in?