THUNDER BAY -- The city is deciding its next move after a review board decision potentially worth millions of dollars didn't go its way.
Resolute Forest Products had appealed its $72 million property assessment for 2009 to 2012 for its Thunder Bay mill to the Assessment Review Board, which decided last week on the value of $32.6 million.
That's well below what the city was hoping for as it fought to keep the assessment as is. The company was looking for $25.8 million.
The city and province will have to pay the company back for those years but when or for how much depends on whether the city wants to continue looking for ways to fight the drop.
City manager Tim Commisso said similar cases in Dryden and Espanola, where the province eventually had to bail out towns hit by reassessment and pay backs, factored into the recent decision.
"I think we did our best to defend the assessment," Commisso said.
"This isn't about essentially winning or losing. This is about a process. We go back to the fact quite frankly that MPAC did a poor job on defending the Dryden and Espanola appeals and that set the stage."
A $41 million value has been put on the property for 2013 and 2014 as well.
Assessments have been a sticking point for the city as it's non-residential industrial tax revenue has dropped from $25 million to $5 million over the past decade. Commisso said he understands that companies are out to maximize profits but cities need stable and predictable tax bases. He adds that reducing assessments has become an industry as companies look to cut costs.
That leaves cities with less money while still trying to maintain its services.
"We're not taxing for the sake of taxing. We're taxing to provide services," he said.
Commisso points out that there are currently 200 non-residential properties under appeal in the city compared to seven residential properties.
Note to readers: This story is corrected from a previous version in which the $41 million assessment was stated as not being appealed and the 200 non-residential and seven residential properties were said to be province-wide.
