Error leaves camp owing back taxes
NANTICOKE, ON—One of the least expensive camps in the Haldimand County area may have to raise fees to cover an unexpected property tax reclassification.
Camp Oneida, a Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec camp located on Lake Erie, about 10 kilometres east of Port Dover, has been around since the 1950s.
"Our registration cost of $250 a week barely covers food and crafts," says Geoff Hunt, who volunteers as the program director. Staff costs and maintenance are covered through donations.
Whether that cost changes depends on the outcome of a property tax reclassification which had a seemingly innocent start. The 125-acre camp comprises six parcels of land, says board member and treasurer Jim Morton, with one parcel rented to a local farmer.
About a year ago, says Morton, the county needed to widen a road and bought a fraction of an acre on each side. When the work was done, the camp received a property tax bill. After asking about it, they were told they needed to reapply to have the camp land reclassified as tax exempt.
"We applied for reconsideration," says Morton. "That's when MPAC [Municipal Property Assessment Corporation] looked at the whole camp and decided all the pieces weren't tax exempt.
"I guess we stirred up something."
What they stirred up was a long-standing error in the camp's property status says Andy Anstett, who works for MPAC, a not-for-profit corporation set up by the province in 2001 to take on the role of providing property assessments for every Ontario municipality.
"It should never have qualified," says Anstett. "We reviewed the original exemption and looked at all the possible exemptions and it's not exempt."
In a letter to Morton, MPAC explained the camp had been classified as a "seminary of learning"—which would have given it tax-exempt status. Listing a variety of reasons and court cases, Morton was told because the camp's main focus was recreational it wasn't tax exempt.
A further e-mail between Morton and MPAC confirmed that the person who allowed the initial exemption "did not verify that the exemption was warranted." Changes to MPAC since then means these decisions are sent to Anstett's department for approval.
Anstett is clear that the reclassification was only made because the camp applied for an exemption.
"We're not out looking for camps shown on assessment rolls as exempt when they should be taxable," says Anstett. "But if we uncover them—for example a new building has to be assessed or land is purchased—we're obligated to apply the law."
The loss of the tax exempt status means the board may have to add about another $12,000 to its annual budget to cover the taxes from two different classifications: farm for the parcel being farmed and residential for the rest of the property.
Morton says the board is following up on a couple of options. One is to appeal MPAC's decision through the courts. The other is to ask Haldimand County Council to exempt the camp from property taxes except for school taxes and local improvement rates. He says a lawyer in Tillsonburg is willing to take on the case.
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