THUNDER BAY -- Mayor Keith Hobbs thinks the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation's board should resign.
City council voted to grant Our Kids Count the taxes its owing Monday night after MPAC said the community kitchen didn't count as a charity because it couldn't prove the people who use the service are in poverty. Councillors said they were righting a wrong and that they organization shouldn't have had the bill in the first place.
While in favour of the grant Coun. Rebecca Johnson was concerned that the move would set a precedent for other charities in the same predicament. But Coun. Aldo Ruberto said those organizations help the community. Collecting property tax takes away valuable resources that are used to help people.
"I hope they do (come to council)," he said.
Hobbs said this is the latest case where MPAC is hurting communities with its reassessments.
"MPAC is out of control," Hobbs said. "It's disgusting."
Councillors were given a hint of the trouble the city is in due to property reassessment Monday night when a group of concerned Northwood citizens worried that infrastructure projects to help with the area's flooding issues might get shelved. Hobbs told the group to expect significant tax increases if it wanted to see all of the projects go ahead. The upcoming budget season is going to be brutal.
"Just so you're forewarned," he said.
City manager Tim Commisso said while the city has seen a lot of growth in the past year, MPAC reassessments mean the city lost half, around $1 million, of what it was expecting in terms of actual revenue.
“We’re at the point where I think we have to look at the operating budget more seriously,” Commisso said.
