QUEEN'S PARK - Today, PC Leader John Tory announced the Ontario PCs will bring real protection to Ontario home owners by promising to cap residential property assessment increases at 5 percent per year. The 5 percent cap first appeared in Erie-Lincoln MPP Tim Hudak's Bill 75, the Homestead Act. The Homestead Act won support of members of all three political parties but Dalton McGuinty has refused to allow a final vote on Hudak's Bill.

"Seniors on fixed incomes and working families have been hard hit by skyrocketing property assessments," said Hudak. "This cap will help preserve the Canadian value of home ownership."

The PC plan would protect homeowners by:

* Establishing a five per cent annual cap on property assessment increases for as long as an individual owns their home (including if a property is transferred to a spouse);

* Implementing a new reverse onus appeal system so the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) will have to justify an assessment increase instead of placing the burden of proof on the homeowner; and

* Ensuring MPAC fully implements the recommendations of the Ombudsman, and if the serious problems identified by the Ombudsman have not been addressed, shutting down MPAC and building a better model.

Hudak and Tory also said a PC government will also address rural assessment inequalities that currently penalize Ontario farmers. The PC policy will ensure that farmers who are encouraged to have value-added production services are not subject to unfair property tax assessments.

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Contact:

Tim Hudak, MPP