Ontario has cancelled property tax assessments for the next two years as the corporation responsible for overseeing the assessments revamps its controversial system.

Finance Minister Greg Sorbara announced the decision Thursday, saying the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) needed time to revise its policy for dealing with property tax appeals.

Finance Minister Greg Sorbara cancelled property tax assessments for the next two years so MPAC can revise its system.
(CBC)

Three months ago, Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin issued a scathing review of the property assessment system, calling it secretive, inaccurate and unfair.

Marin accused MPAC of having a "superiority complex" and putting the onus on property owners to defend property tax changes. He recommended the onus fall instead on MPAC to defend its assessments.

The corporation said it has started working on most of the ombudsman's 22 recommendations, but said revamping the system is time-consuming and could take until 2009 to complete.

In the meantime, the province has cancelled all reassessments scheduled for the fall of 2006 and 2007.

'Whopping' bills to come for homeowners

While the freeze might seem like good news for property owners upset with assessment notices received this year, there's a catch.

Conservative MPP Tim Hudak is warning Ontarians to brace themselves for "whopping" bills when the two-year freeze is lifted, especially with the housing market showing little sign of slowing down.

"Dalton McGuinty is putting a cap on a boiling pot, but when it does boil over in 2008, you're talking about three sets of assessment increases which could be somewhere between a 30 to 50 per cent average increase if we see the same pattern continue," said Hudak.

Hudak also questioned the timing of the announcement by the Ontario Liberals, noting that the property assessments won't take place until after the next provincial election in 2007.