[BrianE]

Mine has increased $31000 between jan 1 2005 and jan 1 2008. $122k - $153k. Now, I paid $155k for my house in 2006 so their assesment of $153k is on the low side but still fair in my opinion.

What I like about this new process is that I won't be on the hook for the $31k all at once, my assessment will increase around 6% each year for the next 3 years until it hits $153k. This is much more manageable.

Paying taxes blows, but at least now the process is much more fair than it used to be. And that's more important to me.

It's also very open and accountable now. If you log into the mpac.ca site and use the 'aboutmyproperty' feature you can see how they arrived at your assed value. And you can also review up to 25 other properties at once and compare your assessment. And a bonus, you can see what your neighbors paid for their house when they bought it. One of my neighbours paid $95000 for his identical house and lot in 2004... man if only I was in a position to buy then, that would have been sweet.

They take into account a number of different variables and in my case have come up with what I think is a fair value for my property.