Funny, the City of Thunder Bay only started to question MPAC’s methods when Resolute’s assessment went down. Never when assessments went up. Up is good. Down is bad.
Now the City of Thunder Bay’s Public Relations department aka Chronicle Journal is trying to garner some sympathy for our poor, poor City Administration. A property assessment went down and now the sky is falling.
Homeowners and industry in our city have seen their property assessments go up every four years for…like…ever and not a peep out of City Hall. Not one complaint from City Hall to the Ontario government.
However, one assessment goes down and MPAC’s methods are called into question? Now? Its the same method MPAC has always used. The same method that has seen my property assessment increase 25% last year? It is flawed not because my assessment went up but because Resolute’s assessment went down?
What does the value of someone’s home has to do with cost of city services anyway. Why does a house worth $150,000 pay more in taxes than one worth $100,000???
The reason is simple. Its about money. Its always about money. Our city needs a continuous increase in its money supply to keep their municipal Ponzi scheme from collapsing. Sooo… municipalities tie their tax base to a number that keeps going up. The value of the property itself. A number that always goes up until, well, one day it doesn’t. Then everything falls apart. Then its time to get angry with MPAC.
The City of Thunder Bay pays MPAC to do these assessments and that can explain some of the City Halls confusion here. The City of Thunder Bay is used to having consultants provide results that are in line with the expectations of City Admin. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, know what I mean?
I guess running a city living beyond its means is really hard. Maybe we should pay our municipal employees even more money.
Eg. The City pays to use a pair of dice. The dice come up sevens every time for 40 years. Winner! for 40 years. Then one day, the dice come up snake eyes. Loser! Now there is something wrong with the dice. The dice are broken. The dice need to be fixed.
