Tuesday November 20, 2012

Property Assessment vs. Air strike Crises

The average assessed value of a Hamilton home will rise more than 12 per cent over the next four years.

Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) notices are beginning to arrive in Hamilton homeowners’ mailboxes with the latest update on assessed property values since 2008.

Increases will be phased in over four years so locally, residential property values will increase by an average of 3.1 per cent in 2013, said Lou Castellani, an area MPAC representative. Decreases will not be phased, however, and should be immediately reflected in updated property values.

Just because your home is assessed at a higher value doesn’t mean your taxes will spike, Castellani emphasized. It depends on how your increase stacks up against the city average.

“If you look at your notice and see your home has gone up (in value) 9 per cent, you can probably expect a tax cut,” he said. “If you live in a hot market and your property increased in value by 14 per cent, you may see a slight increase in taxes.”

More than 161,000 homeowners in the Hamilton area will soon receive updated notices, he said.

Meanwhile, more Palestinian civilians were caught in the line of fire Monday as Israel expanded the scope of its campaign in the Gaza Strip, hitting densely packed areas of the territory with airstrikes.

Israel began targeting the Gaza homes of Hamas activists and suspected military commanders over the weekend, bolstering its efforts to stop Hamas rocket fire on the state. The new approach, however, has led to an increased number of civilian casualties as airstrikes devastate more crowded areas of Gaza. (Source: CTV News)