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Mono impacted by tax break to aggregate industry

January 23, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

Aggregate pit operators may be in for a tax break with new rules set up by the province.

A new property class for aggregate extraction sites came into effect on Jan. 1 for the 2025 taxation year. This class is reflected on the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) assessment roll.

Municipal transition tax ratios and provincial education tax rates for the new class have been established to provide an overall $6 million tax reduction to properties in the aggregate extraction property class relative to the original 2024 tax level.

Previously, the property tax for aggregate pits would have been whatever the industrial tax rate was for the community, said Les Halucha, the town’s treasurer.

But that’s being changed.

“They will end up paying something a little bit less than the industrial tax rate,” he said. “They will be set up in their own tax class similar to how we have the farm tax class, the managed forest tax class. Now I guess we’ll have aggregate tax class.”

On a province-wide basis, the $6 million reduction is comprised of a $3 million municipal tax and a $3 million education tax.

Municipalities overall will still benefit from the majority of the incremental tax revenues that resulted from the assessment methodology changes implemented by MPAC for these properties in 2024.

“The question is how will it affect Mono?” Halucha said. “We have an assessment value … of approximately $3.3 million assessment for aggregate taxation,” he said.

The municipality will get about $6,300 less from taxes this year than normally in previous years, he said.

“The bottom line is we’re going to receive $6,300 less than we otherwise would,” Councillor Ralph Manktelow said.

“That’s correct,” Halucha said.

Mayor John Creelman said there was recently a “court battle” led by Wellington County aimed to increase revenue from aggregate properties.

“And now the province is stepping in to sort of bail out the aggregate industry again,” Creelman said. “Is that an over-simplification of what I just heard?”

“Originally, it was not supposed to affect municipalities in any way,” Halucha said. “I think this latest change is affecting both the province and municipalities.”

Creelman broached the possibility of contacting neighbouring municipalities with an eye to a possible joint opposition campaign against the change.

Coun. Elaine Capes said $6,300 doesn’t sound like a big pot of money. But there’s a coarse rub in there, she said.

“It does ignore the increases to our road costs because of increased truck traffic, especially when more aggregate pits get rolling,” Capes said. “It would be nice if we got more of that $6 million the government will put in its pockets from saving the aggregate industry.”


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