Taxes

Taxation Information

The Interim Tax Bill is based on 50% of your previous year's annualized taxes, not your current year assessment as set by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

The Final tax bill represents the total of the current year's property tax levy, less the amount of the interim billing issued in January. The current year assessment figures will be used to calculate the FINAL taxes which will be issued the end July, and due in two installments August and November.

Property Tax Payments

Tax payments may be made by any of the following methods:

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 boxes located outside of the Marsville Community Hall and the Administrative Office for after-hours cheque payments. Please do not leave cash payments in the drop box.
At all 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.

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.

2023 Tax Rates and Levies Schedule

The Township of East Garafraxa 2023 Tax Rates and Levies is now available.

2033 Property Tax Levy Allocation

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

As the owner of a farm property, you may be eligible for a reduction in the amount of property taxes you pay through one of these incentive programs:

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

Information about the Farm Property Class Tax Rate Program, also known as the "Farm Tax Program," is sent to customers throughout the year. Individual deadlines are noted in these packages.

To participate in the Farm Tax Program, you are required to have a valid Farm Business Registration number or an income exemption. Farm Business Registration invoices must be paid each year by March 1.

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.