Durham property tax rates highest in GTA, study finds

A recent study lists Durham communities as having some of the highest property tax rates in the GTA, but some say it is not cut and dry situation.

An article, posted on real estate website torontostoreys.com compared tax rates and property taxes of 32 GTA municipalities.

The data uses June 2018 sales reports from the Toronto Real Estate Board. Zoocasa, another real estate website, collected the data.

Oshawa has the second highest property tax rate at 1.0469 per cent, with Orangeville higher by only 0.003 per cent.

The article shows that the average June home sale price in Oshawa was $515,261, the lowest on the list. This amounts to an average of $7,249 in property taxes, ranking 13th out of the 32 municipaliteis.

Eight of the 10 heftiest property tax rates are in Durham Region.

Only Uxbridge at 1.008 per cent finished out of the top ten.

Toronto has the lowest tax rate at 0.63551 per cent, followed by Markham and Milton.

In Durham, residents pay property taxes to the region, and their local municipality and school boards.

The region and local municipalities set their own rates, while the education portion is set by the province.

Mary Simpson, acting commissioner of finance and treasurer for Durham Region points out that taxes are actually based on current value assessment (CVA) determined by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

Based on Zoocasa’s data, the average selling price in Durham in June was $639,179.

Simpson says this is significantly higher than CVAs across the region.

“Regionwide, average residential homes had a CVA of $424,900 with an average of $2,673 in regional property taxes,” she says.

MPAC reassesses homes every four years, with the previous round coming in 2016.

Nicole Pincombe, director of business planning, budgets and risk management, says any increase in assessment phases in over four years.

Therefore, the full increase of a 2016 assessment doesn’t come in effect until 2020.

“It’s very important when you are comparing municipal tax rates that you are using CVA,” Pincombe says. “Property taxes are brutally complicated.”

Using one month worth of sales data will likely skew the numbers, a view Simpson agrees with.

“While acknowledging that property tax comparisons are very difficult across jurisdictions, the Region of Durham does attempt such comparisons every year as part of its annual tax study,” Simpson explains.

The region takes 10 “average” homes across Durham, and compares them against similar homes in 30 other municipalities.

“The use of MPAC expertise and data ensures the comparison across jurisdictions is done at the same point in time and uses consistent methodology to derive comparable assessments,” Simpson says.

According to Simpson, using this methodology shows that Durham’s property tax rates are “competitive.”

When it comes to calculating tax rates, many factors come into play, Pincombe says.

“That’s what makes these comparisons across municipalities very difficult.”

Geography and population, as well the type of services a municipality offers and how taxes are collected, are all to be considered.

For example, the City of Toronto has a user-pay solid waste charge that is separate from property taxes while Durham funds solid waste services through taxes.

Solid waste services attribute for roughly seven per cent of an average tax bill in Durham.