HOW REASSESSMENT IMPACTS YOUR PROPERTY TAXES

Even if your property assessment goes up, your property taxes may not. Property tax rates are automatically lowered so that reassessment is revenue neutral for the City. Reassessment means that individual property owners may be paying more or paying less, but the amount the City collects doesn’t change.

If your assessment increases by less than the average, your property taxes will drop. If it increases by the average, your taxes will be unchanged. If it increases by more than the average, your taxes will go up.

In the past, there have been concerns about the reassessments produced by the property assessment system. There is also the problem that the current system is shifting more of the property tax burden from commercial property to homeowners.

The power to fix the property assessment system rests with the provincial government. Both homeowners and municipalities have made it clear there are problems. Prior to the last provincial election, the provincial government promised to look at changes. Unfortunately, the system was left largely unchanged.

BRIDLEWOOD COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION NEEDS YOUR HELP TO FIX UP PALOMINO GATEWAY

On Saturday September 27, starting at 10:00 a.m., the Bridlewood Community Association will be holding a work day to do the landscaping to replace the walls at the north and south corners of Palomino Drive and Eagleson Road. The Community Association needs 10 to 15 volunteers to help with digging and planting. For students the Community Association can provide hours for school.

Landscaping at Eagleson and Palomino is to replace the stone walls that were removed last year. The City and the Bridlewood Community Association have provided funding for the project to beautify the entrances of Palomino to replace the walls that had to be taken down. Work is being done this Saturday to meet the October 15th deadline under the funding agreement.

People will be meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday September 27 at both intersections of Palomino and Eagleson.

It will be helpful for the Community Association to know you are coming. To sign up, please e-mail, pres@bridlewood.ca.

MARION DEWAR’S VISION EXTENDED TO KANATA

As obituaries of former City of Ottawa Mayor Marion Dewar made clear her vision went far beyond the boundaries of the former City of Ottawa. What is less widely known was her role in the attempt to stop development of the natural environmental lands north of the Beaver Pond.

The decision of the former Regional Council expand the urban boundary in 1981 to include the natural environmental area is the reason we now face the loss of the wooded area that was a landmark in Kanata. Marion Dewar was one of the members of Regional Council who recognized that adding the natural environmental lands to the urban area meant that one day they would be lost.

In Kanata we have suffered from a number of planning decisions made with no thought as to what would happen 20 or 30 years later. Marion Dewar was a mayor and councillor who had the vision to think about the long-term consequences of political decisions.

WORKING FULL-TIME FOR KANATA SOUTH

I appreciate the chance to hear from you about issues affecting our community. You can reach me at 580-2752 (office), 580-2762 (fax), www.feltmateforkanata.com or peggy.feltmate@ottawa.ca