Proposed Bill 31 would give the Assessor more powers to request an increase at either the Board of Revision or the Municipal Board. The present

legislation states that a Board can increase an assessment even if the assessor has not appealed. However, the Court of Appeal had previously overruled the legislation by stating that it was procedurally unfair because the taxpayer did not know the case that it had to meet.

The present legislation addresses this issue by stating that the Board can increase an assessment if the assessor files a notice with either Board and the applicant 10 days prior to a hearing. The assessor still has the right to file appeals in lieu of the 10 day notice, giving the assessor 2 ways to request increases at the Boards.

With the normal appeal filing, the assessor has a difficult time in trying to appeal those assessments which have been appealed by the taxpayer because

they usually find out after the appeal deadline. However, the advantage to the assessor, and disadvantage to the taxpayer, is that the assessor controls his own appeal and can continue even if the taxpayer is prepared to withdraw his appeal.

The assessor appeal is mainly exercised when the

assessor is dissatisfied with a ruling by the Board of Revision although the City of Winnipeg Assessment Department, in the past, has filed appeals against their own assessments at the Board of Revision on many selective assessments in anticipation of taxpayer appeals.

In the case of the 10 day Notice, the assessor will easily be able to request increases on every taxpayer appeal because their deadline will be

well after the date of a taxpayer appeal. The disadvantage to the assessor, and advantage to the taxpayer, is that the taxpayer controls the appeal by being able to discontinue the appeal and thereby removing the risk of an increase.

Indeed, the 10 day notice, when exercised by the assessor, would have the effect of increasing withdrawals and be an effective intimidation tactic by the assessor. A potential benefit to taxpayers would be that the assessor

would be less likely to file their own appeals with the potential of an increase only when the taxpayer files an appeal.

The assessor would gain a very effective and easily used weapon with the 10

day notice but it would be less onerous to the taxpayer than a normal assessor appeal. It is expected that the assessor will be using this method to request increases much more often than under their previous powers.

Another disturbing proposed amendment allows the Municipal Board to increase the assessment beyond the original assessment contrary to a previous court decision which stated that this was not possible unless the assessor had filed an appeal against the original assessment at the Board of Revision.

This proposed amendment is unfair and the increase should be restricted to the amount of the original assessment.

In order to make it an even playing field, the taxpayer should also be allowed to ask a Board for a decrease with the same 10 day notice provision whenever the assessor files an appeal. This can and has happened when the

assessor files an appeal to the Municipal Board when they are dissatisfied with a ruling from the Board of Revision.

Although, it is less likely to happen, the assessor also can and has filed appeals against their own assessments at the Board of Revision. Unless this right is removed from the assessor, the 10 day notice must be made available to the taxpayer to make the process fair.

The Bill can be found at

http://www.gov.mb.ca/leg-asmb/bills/37-sess2/b031e.html

For more information about these tax changes or other tax related issues, please contact Henri Dupont, Senior Manager at 957-2278.