A small decline is nothing to be worried about, said Caroline McDonald, president of the Sudbury Real Estate Board.

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1 CANADA - April 2016 SUDBURY LAKEFRONT PROPERTY VALUES DROP ON RECENT MPAC ASSESSMENTS... 1 ALBERTA BUDGET BLAMED FOR EDMONTONIANS GETTING HIT WITH HIGHER PROPERTY TAXES... 2 COUNCIL CUTS TAX RATES FOR PROPERTY VALUE REASSESSMENTS IN THE WORKS... 3 NO INCREASE FOR MOST P.E.I. PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENTS IN CITY SEEKS FAIR SHARE OF LINEAR TAX ASSESSMENT... 5 Sudbury lakefront property values drop on recent MPAC assessments The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation says lakefront homes outside the city centre in Greater Sudbury have declined in value. It says there has been a 9 per cent drop in the value of homes on Onwatin Lake in Hanmer, 8 per cent on Bowland's Bay near Skead, 12 per cent on Lake Panache near Whitefish and 18 per cent on Fairbank Lake, in the northeast portion of the city. A small decline is nothing to be worried about, said Caroline McDonald, president of the Sudbury Real Estate Board. "The last several years the demand for lakefront properties went up and up," she said. "As a result the prices did go up." Because the value of lakefront properties has been increasing over the past few years, a decline isn't necessarily unusual, McDonald added. "I just think we've had a market correction and the prices have just gone down slightly." The Federation of Ontario Cottagers Association's Terry Rees said it's hard to arrive at an across-the-board change in property values, when homes are scattered in less-populated areas. He said low metal prices may affect the economy and the willingness of Sudburians to pay a premium for waterfront. "Generally, real estate would tend to reflect lower metal prices, but also for things that might be considered extravagances, that would certainly be even more so." Rees said Sudbury is somewhat unique for the great number of residential waterfront homes as opposed to seasonal properties. He added a decrease does have one advantage lower property taxes. Assessments mailed out

2 P a g e 2 Meanwhile, MPAC mailed out property assessments earlier this week. The agency said assessments are accurate if they reflect what homeowners could have sold their property for on Jan. 1 of this year. On average, MPAC said a home in the area is worth $235,000, with waterfront homes going for $363,000. MPAC says property values will increase in Sudbury over the next year by about 1.3 per cent. Alberta budget blamed for Edmontonians getting hit with higher property taxes But province says increase in education taxes driven by higher costs Changes in the Alberta government's recent budget mean Edmontonians will be saddled with a much larger property tax bill than first anticipated. Edmonton city councillors say they are angry the province continues to download the responsibility of collecting the education portion of property taxes onto the city on the government's behalf, particularly when they increase. Councillors said Tuesday they worked hard to whittle down this year's tax increase as much as possible. Last December, after a month of debate, they approved a 3.4 per cent increase for But on Monday, council learned the NDP government has budgeted for a $158 million increase in education tax revenue. That will mean an 8.7 per cent education tax increase for residents in Edmonton. Combined with the municipal property tax, the final property tax bill for the typical homeowner will be 4.9 per cent higher than last year, 1.5 percentage points higher than previously estimated. Overall, that will mean the typical homeowner will pay roughly $109 more in 2016, though the final numbers have not been confirmed yet. According to the province's budget documents released last Thursday, the increase is driven by higher education costs, 32 per cent of which are funded through property taxes. The city collects the education tax on behalf of the province and passes the money on. But Coun. Michael Oshry said many people don't realize the tax hike isn't set by the city. 'People end up furious at us' "It's actually awful," fumed Oshry. "The province doesn't publicize that it's the one making these decisions, we have to collect the money and we get the phone calls." Oshry said the province is raising taxes in an "underhanded" way and the city takes the blame. Mayor Don Iveson said it's "extremely irritating" to have to explain to residents that their property tax is going up more because of a decision by the province. "It's really difficult for people to understand, so people end up being furious at us," Iveson said. The mayor said he planned to raise the issue as part of city charter negotiations with the province. "If anyone has an issue with the education property tax they should talk to their MLA," Iveson said. Education Minister David Eggen said he thinks most people in the province agree that education must be fully funded.

3 P a g e 3 "It's important for us to have stable funding for education in order to meet the needs of our growing enrolment, with more children in the classrooms," Eggen said. He said the education tax rate hasn't changed. Province also cut municipal grants As part of their efforts to reduce the overall property tax, council initially suspended levy increases for neighbourhood renewal, and filled the gap with infrastructure grants from the province. The province in its fall budget promised Edmonton $20 million more for municipal infrastructure projects in the form of Municipal Sustainability Initiative grants. But the budget released Thursday cut MSI grants overall by $50 million, reneging on the promise for the capital. On Tuesday, city councillors had hoped to lower the municipal property tax portion from 3.4 per cent to 2.8 per cent, using some extra money from property assessments and savings from the Valley LRT line project, which came in under budget. However, rather than reduce property taxes, councillors instead decided to put the savings toward covering the municipal grants that were revoked by the province, leaving some councillors disappointed. "We budgeted and planned for it," said Coun. Andrew Knack, referring to the infrastructure grants. Oshry was the only councillor present Tuesday who voted against the plan. He said while infrastructure grants were taken away, the province did allocate more money for affordable housing and green initiatives. He said the city should have found the money to cover the grants from elsewhere in its own budget, and lowered the overall tax increase. "We can't just keep adding and adding and adding when things don't go well," Oshry said. Council cuts tax rates for 2016 Fort St. John city councillors have approved a cut to residential and business tax rates for 2016, but many land and homeowners will still see a higher tax bill this year thanks to rising assessments. On Monday, council approved a residential tax rate of $4.75 per $1,000 of assessed value, down from $4.96 last year. Council also lowered tax rates for businesses, and light industrial and major industrial landowners, setting this year's rates at $13.38, $24.11 and $26.40, respectively, per $1,000 of assessed value. Although the city has cut residential tax rates for a fourth consecutive year, a rise in assessment values means most residents will still be paying more. The assessed value for a single-family home in the city jumped from $379,864 in 2015 to $403,430 in The average Fort St. John homeowner can expect to pay another $18.47 on their property tax bill, or around a nickel a day. The average homeowner paying $6.91 a day for city services in total. Assessments for major industrial properties saw an increase to $34,448,100 in 2016, a jump of $291,000 from Light industrial properties saw a slight drop, from $17,313,900 to $17,253,600 year-over-year. Meanwhile, the city says it will spend $16.3 million on roads and related infrastructure this year. The city plans to add sidewalks and street lights to sections of 86 Street, 107A Avenue and 96 Avenue. The city will also pave 75 Street and 85 Avenue. Work will also begin this summer on a storm sewer replacement on 93 Avenue between 96 Street at 100 Street. Property value reassessments in the works As the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, better known as MPAC, starts sending out reassessment notices to Ontario homeowners, it s important to understand how they will impact your property taxes.

4 P a g e 4 First of all, the reassessment notices for homeowners in Ottawa won t be mailed out until sometime in July, which means the impact won t be felt until MPAC is a provincial body which reassesses property values in Ontario every four years. The last reassessment was done in The reassessment process is used to provide municipalities with an up-to-date valuation of properties against which the appropriate tax rate is applied. The important thing to keep in mind is that the process is revenue neutral, which means that there is no financial gain for municipalities. Here s how it works. According to MPAC, property values in Ontario have increased by an average of 18 per cent over the past four years. Assuming for the sake of this example, that property values in Ottawa have increased by the same amount, the city is required to adjust it s tax rate to ensure that that the reassessments are revenue neutral in terms of their global impact. In practical terms it means that if the reassessed value of a given property went by more than 18 per cent over the past four years the homeowner must pay difference. For instance, if the MPAC notice is showing a property s value went up by 20 per cent, the homeowner would see a two per increase in their taxes, or the difference between the increase in the assessed value of their home and the city average. Conversely, if the reassessed value of a property is less than the municipal average than the taxes will be reduced by the difference. For instance, if the MPAC notice is showing a property s value only went up by 16 per cent, then the homeowner would see a two per cent decrease in their property taxes. A city can also exercise it s descretion to phase-in any increases that are a result of the reassessment process, which Ottawa did in 2012, so that a two per cent increase would be phased-in in increments of 0.5 per cent per year. So when you see media reports that property values have gone up by 15 or 18 per cent, don t panic. Just wait for your MPAC notice and do your own calculation. Simply divide your 2016 assessment by your 2012 assessment and you ll arrive at your percentage increase. Subtract the average increase for Ottawa and you will arrive at the amount your taxes will either increase or decrease. The other thing to keep in mind is that any increase in the assessed value of your home is a good thing. MPAC assessments are based on the average sale price of similar homes in your area over the past four years. An up-to-date reassessment is a reflection of what your home maybe worth when you decide to sell it. When property values go up so does the potential equity in your home. And while an assessed property value is not a professional appraisal, they are usually fairly close. No increase for most P.E.I. property tax assessments in 2016 Prince Edward Island experienced negative inflation for That means there'll be no increase in most property tax assessments for That will come as good news for most Island homeowners, but will make it more challenging for the P.E.I. government to move ahead with plans to table a balanced budget later this spring.

5 P a g e 5 According to Statistics Canada, the consumer price index on P.E.I. fell by 0.6 per cent in Most years, property tax assessments, and by extension the property taxes paid by Island homeowners, increase according to the CPI recorded the year before. But according to P.E.I.'s Real Property Tax Act, there's no change in assessment values after years where CPI goes down. There could still be assessment increases for owners who make improvements to their homes. P.E.I. and Whitehorse, Yukon were the only jurisdictions where the consumer price index dropped in Statistics Canada says shelter prices on P.E.I. dropped 2.5 per cent in 2015, while increasing 1.1 per cent across the country. Clothing prices also dropped on the Island, while the transportation index (including gasoline prices) dropped 5.7 per cent in the province, almost twice as much as it dropped across the rest of country. The lack of increase in assessments will affect government revenues for the fiscal year that began April 1, For the fiscal year that ended on March 31, the P.E.I. government is estimating to take in $111.5 M in property taxes. That's an increase of 2.4 per cent over the previous year. Property tax assessments are mailed to homeowners in early May. The last time CPI dropped in the province was in City seeks fair share of linear tax assessment While the city awaits the province's decision on how it will reformulate its linear tax revenue allocation, council is preparing administration by directing it to use at least 50% of the revenue to lower property taxes. "The heart of the issue is that right now the distribution of linear property tax revenue essentially means that rural municipalities, like the County of Grande Prairie and the M.D. of Greenview, have artificially low mill rates," said Mayor Bill Given. While Given recommended that at least 50% of linear revenue go towards property taxes, the other 50% he recommended should be used to fund city based services, such as more RCMP officers. In December 2015, the province announced it would be re-evaluating the linear tax and in February the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) announced that linear taxes should be pooled at a regional level, shared within all municipalities in that region with the exception of Edmonton and Calgary, according to assessment and taxation manager Scott Smith. As well, the AUMA directed a revenue sharing formula be developed by each region in how linear tax revenue should be shared. Linear properties generate about $845 million annually for municipalities across the province. Under the current linear tax revenue formula, 77.6% goes to counties and municipal districts while only 7.7% goes to cities. Linear tax revenue in 2015 for the Grande Prairie region totalled $67.7 million with the city receiving $1.8 million. Using the current Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) formula that calculates tax income and adding the current total population within the region, the 2015 equalization assessment, and the kilometres of roads that run through the city along with electoral boundaries, the city could potentially receive $26.7 million in revenue for 2016, according to a chart prepared by city administration. In comparison, the county received $20.1 million last year in linear tax revenue, but would only receive $14.4 million under the proposed formula.

6 P a g e 6 "In regards to the AUMA points where linear tax revenue should be pooled at a regional level... the City of Grande Prairie took the position that electoral boundaries would be a good way to define the region. AUMA didn't take a position on how the regions would be defined, but ultimately if this goes forward it would be up to the province to define what those regions would be," said Smith. "In regards to the revenue sharing formula, the city took the position that the MSI formula would be a very good method to move forward with and it's proven and very successful."