On June 24, we held a regular meeting of our Municipal Liaison Group (MLG) to share updates on how we continue to respond to COVID-19 and provide the services and stability municipalities rely on. We thank our MLG members for their time and valuable input into our work.
Here are the highlights of what we shared with the group.
Returning to property inspections
Beginning June 15, we resumed exterior property inspections in the communities served by MPAC field offices in Kingston, Hamilton, Barrie and Timmins.
We have new guidelines and practices to ensure we can complete property inspections safely:
- Before beginning any inspections, employees are required to complete mandatory personal protective equipment training and a daily COVID-19 self-assessment.
- They’ll strictly observe health and safety guidelines around physical distancing when conducting exterior inspections.
- If our inspectors encounter property owners during their work, they will identify themselves and interact if needed from a safe distance.
This gradual start has allowed us to make sure the protocols are working and ensure we are fully prepared to return to serving all municipalities. So far, everything is going well and the feedback on site from property owners has been supportive of the work we need to do. We will be looking to expand our field inspection activities across the province in the next two weeks.
Mailing of in-year notices
We are mailing all in-year notices as scheduled, including Post Roll Ammended Notices (PRANs), Advisory Notice of Adjustments (ANAs), Special Amended Notices (SANs), Tax Incentive Approval Letters (TIAs) and Property Assessment Change Notices (PACNs).
We mailed our first set of PACNs in May and sent notices to another 5,000 property owners in early June. Notices mailed so far this year represent a total of $14-billion in new assessment across Ontario.
Enhancements to WorkSight
In May, we introduced new functionality that allows municipal staff to submit electronic building plans through WorkSight in
Municipal Connect
. This is an important source of information we need to assess new construction. To date, more than 80 lower and single-tier municipalities have submitted electronic building plans through WorkSight.
This month, we also exposed building permits in WorkSight, which gives municipal staff the ability to track permits and issuance of related Property Assessment Change Notices.