THUNDER BAY -- Keith Hobbs says, if given the chance, he would be more than happy to bring some “common sense” to the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.
The Thunder Bay mayor, who last December publicly stated the entire MPAC board should resign, has been endorsed by both city council and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association as a candidate to sit on the board of the provincial body.
“MPAC has to really justify the assessments that are happening, especially the grain elevators. We know that came from the Finance Ministry but on the mill assessments and other assessments it seems there is no rhyme or reason,” he said.
“We have to bring some common sense to MPAC through the board.”
Hobbs was first endorsed by the city’s intergovernmental affairs committee, which felt that submitting the name of the top elected municipal representative would send a strong message.
City manager Tim Commisso has previously said MPAC assessments have cost the city about $5 million, with the recent grain elevator decision eroding $700,000 from the industrial tax base.
Hobbs said the assessment process needs to become more transparent.
“There’s no accountability for the way they’re doing their assessments. There’s no reasoning and no consultation,” Hobbs said.
“The grain elevators are a great example. Thunder Bay had no consultation with MPAC.”
NOMA also endorsed O’Connor Mayor Ron Nelson, who said there should be two permanent Northwestern Ontario seats on the board.
It’s important for Northwestern Ontario to have a regional voice, along with the urban centre.
Nelson said he agrees with the need for “justified reassessment,” though that has to be a process that allows for municipalities to prepare for it.
That’s why the provincial government had to come to the aid of so many Northern communities hit by mill reassessments.
“To drop it on you immediately and demand you pay that money back immediately, and there’s no mitigation whatsoever to sustain a municipality to move forward,” he said. “That’s why the province stepped in. They would have bankrupted most of the cities in Northwestern Ontario.”
Currently, the board’s northernmost representative is from Sudbury.
The endorsements don't mean the two automatically get to sit on the board. NOMA will submit the names of Hobbs and Nelson to the Association of Municipalities Ontario, which then whittles down a shortlist to be submitted to the MPAC board before being decided by the Ministry of Finance.
