THUNDER BAY -- The city wants the province to change the way grain elevators are assessed or pay compensation for its decision.
Last month the city learned elevators in the city would be reclassified from industrial to commercial by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation but under the direction of the Ministry of Finance.
That move, along with other reassessment, has nearly wiped out any growth in tax revenue the city expected to see this year and is increasingly shifting the tax levy from the 19 large industrial sites to residential taxpayers. In the last decade homeowners have coughed up $29 million more to the levy, from 54 to 61 per cent since 2005.
"Can we sue MPAC?" Coun. Larry Hebert asked.
City manager Tim Commisso said that would be a discussion for closed session but city council did pass a resolution calling for the ministry to establish a new class for elevators or give Thunder Bay municipal tax loss compensation. Its intergovernmental affairs committee will review the ongoing issues related to assessment.
That includes make presentations to the ministry and MPPs, get a nominee from council on the MPAC board of directors though the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and get a policy position together with other cities hit by reassessment.
