Taxes

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Property taxes are a significant revenue source for the Town of Essex. They cover the cost of the wide variety of services we provide to our residents, including maintenance of roads, recreational facilities and programs, winter control, sidewalk maintenance, fire and police services, just to name a few.

A property tax notice is issued two times per year as follows:

Interim Tax Notice issued in February with two installments due the last business day of February and April (By-Law 2302)
Final Tax Notice issued in July with the two installments due the last business day of July and October. (By-Law 2320)

The Town also issues supplementary tax notices throughout the year to capture changes in assessment resulting from property improvements or additions not yet reflected in your current tax bill.

Tax rates are calculated and set annually as part of the annual budget process. Tax rates are established through a by-law passed by Council. Read the 2024 Tax Rate By-law online.

Property Tax FAQs

Payment Options

The Town offers several convenient methods to pay property taxes:

Credit Card Payments with Virtual City Hall. Register online at www.essex.ca/VCH
- To activate your account, you will need your Tax Roll and Account Number, both of which are on your tax notice.
- Please note, a 2.5% convenience fee will be applied at the time of payment.
- As of May 26, 2020, Town Hall will no longer accept credit cards for property tax payments.

Pre-authorized payment plan (apply using the Pre-Authorized Debit Agreement for Property Taxes Enrollment Form)
Online and telephone banking at your financial institution
- When prompted to select the payee, please search 'Essex'. The search results should list 'Town of Essex, Taxes' or 'Essex Town Taxes', depending on your financial institution.
- Use your roll number as the account number, leaving out any spaces or dashes. If additional characters are required for your financial institution, please use 0's for the remaining characters.
Drop boxes located at the Harrow and Colchester South Community Centre (243 McAffee Street, Harrow) and Town Hall (33 Talbot Street South, Essex Centre)
In person at Town Hall, 33 Talbot Street South, Essex during regular business hours, Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm.

Paperless E-Billing

View your tax notices faster and help reduce our environmental impact. Taxpayers now have the option to receive their tax notices through e-mail. If you would like to sign up for e-billing, please complete the form below

Electronic Billing Enrollment Form

Property Assessment

The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is responsible for classifying your property and assessing its value.

If you have questions about your 2016 residential property assessment, visit aboutmyproperty.ca or call 1-866-296-MPAC (6722) or 1-877-889-MPAC (6722). You can also write to MPAC at: Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, PO Box 9808, Toronto, Ontario M1S 5T9.

If your residential property assessment went up even though your home flooded, you may wish to attach the following letter to your Request for Reconsideration.

Town of Essex Letter to MPAC

If you feel your assessed value and/or property classification is not correct, MPAC will review it, free of charge. You can do this by filing a Request for Reconsideration on aboutmyproperty.ca. You can also write a letter to MPAC requesting reconsideration. You have 120 days from the issue date on your property assessment notice to file a free Request for Reconsideration. The deadline date for Essex properties is December 6.

Property Tax Adjustment

To request an adjustment of taxes you will need to complete the following form as provided by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation:

Application for an Adjustment of Taxes

Reasons to file a request for an adjustment of taxes include:

Commercial to residential class change
Building razed or damaged by fire
Demolition of buildings
Overcharged or manifest error
Property status change to exempt

Tax Certificates

Tax Certificates can only be requested by a Law Firm or the Mortgage Lender. The Town of Essex can provide regular tax certificates for $86.88 and express tax certificates for $173.77 (guaranteed within three business days).

Tax Registration

Bill 68, Modernizing Ontario's Municipal Legislation Act, 2017, has received Royal Assent and amends the Municipal Act, 2001 to allow municipalities to commence tax sale proceedings by registering a tax arrears certificate on title of property that is two or more years in arrears.

Municipal Act, 2001
Registration of tax arrears certificate
373 (1) Where any part of tax arrears is owing with respect to land in a municipality on January 1 in the second year following that in which the real property taxes become owing, the treasurer of the municipality, unless otherwise directed by the municipality, may prepare and register a tax arrears certificate against the title to that land. 2001, c. 25, s. 373 (1); 2017, c. 10, Sched. 1, s. 55 (1).