I’ve commented on the absurd manner in which City Hall assesses the value of property in the past. Basically it preferentially treats those in older homes that have likely resided there many years, consuming services, depreciating infrastructure, while enjoying artificial low assessments, and low annual tax bills (that increase slowly and marginally). Yet when it comes to any new development, it appears to aggressively inflate values in such a way as to maximize its annual take. It even now reassesses property extremely quickly and in such an efficient manner it can actually pre-emptively decide the amount of mid stream construction value that has occurred and find a way to tax that too, despite the new buildings are unoccupied and not using any City services. In my case we can’t even get a parking permit for the trades to use the street in front of the building. Yet, we’ve already been hit with a massive reassessment, that isn’t even valid based on the City’s own rules

‘your 2019 assessment reflects the estimated market value of your property on July 1 2018 and the physical condition as of December 31 2018’.

So now the City is hitting builders with large tax increases based on the condition of July 1, 2018 (building was vacant and ready to be demolished), thus worth land value only, and as of Dec 31, the physical condition was unoccupied and under construction. Its market value half built is not great, as the market of buyers for half done buildings is very limited. Regardless the value is supposed to be estimated as of the market in the previous summer.

Typical of how the City can act quickly when it benefits, but when you need a favour or service from the City it takes sometimes months to get anywhere, or you get into the bureaucratic runaround. Somehow that same bureaucracy can act to maximize its take from local businesses though.