Taxes

Property Tax Payment Options / Change of Ownership or Mailing Address
Pre-authorized Payment Plans / Property Assessment Information
Property Tax Rebates / Commercial & Industrial Capping Parameters
Tax Rates / Municipal Levy Changes

Frequently Asked Questions

Tax Bill Due Dates

Interim Taxes are due in two installments for all property classes. The due dates are the last working day of February and the last working day of April. Final Taxes are due in two installments for all property classes. The due dates are the last working day of July and the last working day of October.

Failure to receive a tax bill does not exempt the property owner from penalty charges. Penalty is charged at the rate of 1.25% per month on the first day of default and the first of each month thereafter. If you have not received your tax bill, contact the Tax Department at extension 301, to check the mailing address the municipality has for you as well as to ascertain the dollar amount due on the due date. The onus is on the ratepayer to keep your mailing address up-to-date.

Town Of Lakeshore Property Tax Payment Options

• Post-dated cheques.
• By mail: 419 Notre Dame, Belle River, ON, N0R 1A0
  • To ensure prompt and correct application of your payment to your account, send tax bill stub with your payment.
  • Write your roll number on the front of your cheque.
  • Do not fold, staple, stamp or write on your payment stub.
  • Make cheques payable to the Town of Lakeshore.
• At most financial institutions.
• Telephone / Internet banking depending on your financial institution.
• At the Municipal Office 419 Notre Dame, Belle River
• .Pre-authorized payment.

Penalty and Interest charges are calculated at a rate of 1.25% on the first day of each month. Failure to receive a tax bill does not relieve the taxpayer of penalty and interest charges.

Important Notice to U.S. Customers

Council of the Town of Lakeshore has adopted a policy whereby US Funds are no longer accepted. Please remit payment in Canadian money, Canadian money order, or a cheque drawn on a Canadian Bank. Do not send cash in the mail.

Pre-authorized Payment Plans

The Town of Lakeshore offers two pre-authorized payment plans to pay your property taxes. Either program is available to customers who are not in arrears.

Installment Plan
The first program is the Installment Program. This program will automatically withdraw from your bank account the amount of your tax installment on the due date.


Monthly Plan
The second program is the Monthly Plan. This plan is based on 10 monthly installments, starting in January and ending in October. At the start of the plan your monthly tax payment will be based on your previous year's taxes plus 5%. This amount will be adjusted once a year after the final tax billing has been calculated to reflect the actual amount of the current year's taxes. The customer will receive notification of the modified payment amount. The monthly payment amount will then remain the same until the beginning of the next year. At the beginning of the new year the monthly payment will again be calculated based on the 5%. And the process continues. This payment plan is only available to those property owners who are not in arrears. The enrolment deadline is December 15 of the year prior to automatic withdrawals being made.


If you are interested in either of these plans, please contact the tax department at extension 301.

• PAP Enrollment Forms HERE

Change of Ownership or Mailing Address

Change of Information Form

If the property has changed ownership, send the bill to the new owner or return it to the Tax Office, indicating to whom the transfer of title has been made. To prevent misdirected tax bills, please advise the Tax Office in writing of mailing address changes.

Property Assessment Information

2009 Property Assessments

Information regarding your assessment can be obtained from the Regional Office for Windsor andEssex County:

Municipal Property Assessment Corporation
500 Ouellette Ave, # 1100
Windsor, ON, N9A 1B3

Telephone: 519-254-0253
Facsimile: 519-254-2823
www.mpac.ca

Complaints To The Assessment Review Board

You have the right to file a complaint about your assessment to the ARB, an administrative quasi-judicial tribunal of the Province of Ontario. You must use the Notice of Complaint form, and submit it by March 31, with the appropriate attachments and fees to:

Assessment Review Board
250 Yonge St, 29th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5B 2L7

The Notice of Complaint Form, fee schedule and general information about how to file a complaint can be obtained directly at Ontario government information centres, MPAC offices, municipal offices and from the ARB's website at www.arb.gov.on.ca or by calling 1-800-263-3237 or 416-314-6900.

Property Tax Rebates for Vacant Commercial and Industrial Buildings

Starting in 2001, property tax relief for vacant commercial and industrial buildings will be provided to property owners through rebates that are issued by municipalities.

Eligible Properties

To be eligible for a rebate, a whole commercial or industrial building must be unused for at least 90 consecutive days. A partially vacant commercial building must be unused, delineated or physically separated and either capable of being leased for immediate occupation, or undergoing, or in need of repairs or renovations, or unfit for occupation for at least 90 consecutive days. A partially vacant industrial building must be unused and delineated or physically separated from the used portions of the building for 90 consecutive days.

Exclusions

Businesses that operate on a seasonal basis, buildings or portions of buildings that are vacant but leased to a tenant and buildings that are assessed in the vacant land sub-class (e.g. new buildings that have never been occupied) are not eligible for a rebate.

Applications and Processing

Application forms are available from the Town of Lakeshore, Tax Department and when completed are to be returned to the Town of Lakeshore, Tax Department, 419 Notre Dame, Belle River, ON, N0R 1A0.

Deadlines

The deadline to submit applications for a tax year is February 28th of the following year.

If a property owner receives a notice of omitted assessment after a tax year, the deadline to submit an application for a rebate is 90 days after the date of issuance of the notice of omitted assessment.

Number of Applications

Property owners may submit a maximum of two applications per property per year. Specifically you may submit either:

• one application for all vacancies on the property during the entire tax year;
• or, one application for all vacancies during the first six months of the year and a second application for the last six months of the year.

Note: Applications should be submitted after the end of the period to which they relate.

Processing

The Town of Lakeshore will process a rebate application by June 30th or within 120 days of the receipt of all the required information whichever is later. The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) will provide the Town with the assessed value that is attributable to the vacant area. Rebates will be issued as a credit against an outstanding tax account or through a direct payment to the property owner if the tax account is paid in full.

If you require an application form, please call the Town of Lakeshore, Tax Department at 519-728-2700, ext 301.

Penalties

A person who knowingly makes a false or deceptive statement in an application for a rebate is liable, upon conviction, to a fine of double the amount of the rebate that the person sought to obtain through their false or deceptive statement.

For the purpose of verifying a vacancy rebate application, municipalities have been given similar rights as assessors to request information and obtain access to premises. A fine of $100 per day may be imposed upon a property owner for failure to comply with a municipality’s request for information.

Vacancy Rebate Application Form
Vacancy Rebate Appendix A

Tax Rates

• 2010 Tax Rate Summary
• 2009 Tax Rate Summary
• 2008 Tax Rate Summary

Municipal Levy Changes

• 2010 Municipal Levy Charges
• 2009 Municipal Levy Changes
• 2008 Municipal Levy Changes

Commercial / Industrial Capping Parameters

• Capping Parameters - all years