Taxes

Paying My Bills

Payment Options

Payments may be paid with cash, cheque, credit card, debit card, online banking, and Pre-authorized Payment (for taxes and water only).

• In person at the Township Administrative Office between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. Payments are accepted by cheque (current or postdated), debit and cash. 
• Drop box located outside of the Administrative Office for after-hours cheque payments. Please do not leave cash payments in the drop box.
• At Most Chartered Banks through your mortgage, personal teller service, telephone or internet banking. Please note that any related banking fees are the responsibility of the taxpayer.
• By mailing a cheque (current or postdated before the due date) with the payment stub(s). If you require a receipt, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
• Online/Telephone Banking is available for your convenience through most Bank websites. To setup bill payment search “East Garafraxa, Township of” as your Payee with the full 19 digit roll number (22-01-000-00X-XXXXX-0000) as your account number (no spaces or punctuation). Please allow 3 to 4 business days for your payment to be processed in order to avoid late charges.
• Debit/Credit Card Payments Paymentus is a secure processing service which allows you to use your credit card or debit card to pay your property taxes, water bills or other bills.
  • Be advised that Paymentus will charge you a service fee of 2.5% on the total amount of your transaction for credit card payments and 1.5% for debit card payments.  For example, a $1,000 payment by credit card will cost you an extra $25.00 in Paymentus service fees.
  • We do not accept credit cards at the Administration Office.
• Click here to make an online credit card or debit card payment via the Paymentus processing service.

At this time we do not have a pre-authorized payment option or credit card payments through the office, however you are welcome to make payments at any time (i.e. weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) whenever you choose through online banking.

To avoid interest charges the full installment amount must be received by the Township of East Garafraxa on or before the due date. 

If you would like to discuss entering into a payment plan for outstanding taxes you can do so by contacting the Treasurer by email or phone, please visit the Contact Us page for contact details. 

Late Payment Charges and Penalties

To avoid interest charges, payments must be received by the Township of East Garafraxa on or before the due date. A charge of 1.25% will be added on the first day of each calendar month following default and on the first day of each calendar month thereafter, as long as the taxes remain unpaid. Monthly interest charges will be imposed on any unpaid taxes from previous years. Interest rates are levied by the municipal bylaw pursuant to section 345 of the Municipal Act, 2001 c. 25.

Failure to receive a tax notice does not excuse a taxpayer from the responsibility for payment of the taxes nor relieve the assessed owner of the liability for interest charges due to late payment.

Any payments received are applied to the outstanding penalty and interest balance first, then to the oldest outstanding tax balances.

2025 Approved Budget, Tax Rates and Levies Schedule 

The Township of East Garafraxa's 2025 Budget was approved by Council at the February 25, 2025 Council meeting. Please see the following link for a summary of the 2025 Approved Budget. 

The Township of East Garafraxa 2025 Tax Rates and Levies is now available. 

MPAC Property Assessment Information 

For questions regarding your property assessment, please contact the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) directly on the MPAC website or 1-866-296-6722. 

Requests for Reconsideration (RfR) for regular or amended Property Assessment Notices can be submitted any time after notices are mailed and before March 31 of the applicable tax year.  RfRs may also be filed on a supplementary or omitted Property Assessment Notice.  In these cases, the deadline is March 31 of the year in which the Notice is mailed or 90 days after the mailing of the Notice, whichever is later.

The Ontario government has announced that the 2020 Assessment Update has been postponed. They have indicated that property assessments for the 2023 property tax year will continue to be based on the fully phased-in January 1, 2016 current values. This means your property assessment for the 2023 property tax year will be the same as the 2020 tax year, unless there have been changes to your property.

In 2016, we mailed a Property Assessment Notice to every property owner in the province – assessing more than five million properties in Ontario. Your 2016 Notice reflects the assessed value and classification of your property as of January 1, 2016 and this will be used as the basis for calculating your 2023 property taxes.

For more information please visit the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) website.

Farm Property Assessments

• Farm property class tax rate program

• Small-scale on-farm business subclasses

• Farm forestry exemption

For further information on Farm Property Assessments please visit Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) website and click here for information on the Farm Tax Incentive Programs MPAC website.

For more information about eligibility requirements and how to sign up or renew, please visit agricorp.com.  

For Agricorp Farm Property Class Tax Rate Program FAQ's please click here.

Deadlines

Managed Forest or Conservation Land

If your property, or part of your property, is approved by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry as being managed forest or conservation land, MPAC will assess its value according to the approach they use for those types of properties.

Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program

This program is designed to encourage stewardship of forests, and offers a substantial reduction in property taxes to eligible property owners.

Find out if your property is eligible and apply through Ontario.ca's Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program page.

Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program

If a portion of your land has important natural heritage features, it may qualify for the CLTIP. Under the CLTIP, your tax for that portion of land may get a 100% property tax exemption.

Find out if your property is eligible and apply through Ontario.ca's Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program page.

For more details on the program please visit the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) website 

School Support Designation

As a property owner in Ontario, you are required to support a school system, even if you do not have children or your children are not currently attending school. This information can be found on your Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) Property Assessment Notice.

For residential properties that are occupied by tenants, the tenants school support preference will supersede that of the owners.

For properties that have more than one self-contained unit, such as a duplex, the tenants for each unit can direct their school support, as though they were assessed separately.

School support designation helps property owners and tenants identify which school board they wish to support in a school board election. School support information collected by MPAC is provided to municipalities and school boards for planning purposes.

There are five different school support designations:

• English public
• French public
• English separate (Catholic)
• French separate (Catholic)
• Protestant separate (Penetanguishene only)

As per legislation, your school support defaults to the English Public school board. However, you may be able to change your school support.  For more information on changing your school support online please visit the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) website.