Property Tax Ratios

Tax ratios distribute tax burden between classes relative to the residential class tax ratio, which is equal to "one".

In 1998, the Fair Municipal Finance Act (Bill 79) provided municipalities with a limited authority to establish tax ratios for each property class. For example, a property with a tax ratio of 2 would pay twice the amount of municipal tax as a similarly valued residential property.

The Province established the prescribed tax ratios for all municipalities for the taxation years 1998, 1999 and 2000.

The Continued Protection for Property Taxpayers Act, 2000 (Bill 140) permitted Regional Council to adopt the established tax ratios or to move the tax ratios closer or within the provincially prescribed ranges of fairness. The ranges of fairness prescribed for each class are shown in the table below.

Provincial Ranges of Fairness and Tax Ratios since 1998

Residential and Commercial

Industrial

(a) Adopted in 2003 Taxation Year
(b) Niagara Region opted out of Large Industrial class
(c) Adopted in 2002 Taxation Year

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