For Immediate Release
March 9, 2007


TORY UNVEILS PLAN TO PROTECT HOMEOWNERS

WOODSTOCK – Today John Tory announced a plan to protect homeowners from skyrocketing property tax assessments by capping increases at 5 per cent.

“This is another part of the John Tory plan to protect homeowners and taxpayers in Ontario,” said Hardeman. “In contrast McGuinty’s lack of a plan has left homeowners, especially seniors on fixed incomes, vulnerable to huge tax increases in 2008 when three years of property assessment increases are applied at once.”

John Tory’s plan would protect homeowners by:

•	Establishing a five per cent annual cap on property assessment increases for as long as an individual owns their home (including if a property is transferred to a spouse);
•	Implementing a new reverse onus appeal system so the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) will have to justify an assessment increase instead of placing the burden of proof on the homeowner; and
•	Ensuring MPAC fully implements the recommendations of the Ombudsman, and if the serious problems identified by the Ombudsman have not been addressed, shutting down MPAC and building a better model.

In early 2006, Ontario’s Ombudsman investigated the concerns of homeowners and released a set of recommendations to fix the system. As a result of that report, the McGuinty Liberals froze property tax assessments until after the election. McGuinty has no plan to fix the system and when the freeze comes off homeowners will face three years of assessment hikes in the space of one.

“Seniors, families and people on fixed incomes in Oxford and throughout Ontario deserve certainty and stability,” added Hardeman. “They need to know that they can afford to keep living in their homes and that government will be there to help them. Unfortunately, in Dalton McGuinty’s Ontario this is no longer a certainty.”

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For more information, contact:
Ernie Hardeman, MPP Oxford
(416) 325-1239