Supplementary Taxes

Understanding Your Supplementary / Omitted Property Tax Bill 

Supplementary and omitted tax bills are issued when the Town receives updated assessment information from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) after regular tax bills have already been sent. 

MPAC issues Property Assessment Change Notices throughout the year when assessment changes occur to a property. The Assessment Act, Section 33 and 34, provides MPAC the authority to add assessment in the current year and all of either or both of the two preceding years (depending on the effective date of the assessment change). 

A supplementary/ omitted tax bill can be issued for any of the below reasons: 

  1. New Construction: A property could first be billed for land value only with a supplementary bill for the structure (physical home) to follow at a later date.  
  2. Improvements or Additions to Property: Renovations/ improvements or the addition of structures occurred at the property which increased the property assessment value. Some examples: finishing your basement, adding square footage to the home, constructing garage and much more 
  3. Your property classification changed: the tax class of the whole or a portion of the property assessment has changed 
  4. All or part of your property no longer qualifies as farmland, conservation land, or managed forest 
  5. All or part of your property no longer qualifies for tax‑exempt status

Property taxes associated with these changes are retroactive to the date of occupancy or when renovations or alterations were completed.

Supplementary or omitted tax bills are issued after the regular annual property tax billing when MPAC provides updated property assessment information to the municipality. In BWG, supplementary bills are issued between June to December.  

Important information: 

  • These bills are in addition to previously issued property tax bills 

  • Payments already made to your tax account are not included on this bill 

  • If you are being billed for multiple years, a separate bill will be issued to you for each year (depending on the effective date of the assessment change). If you receive your bills by email you will receive separate emails for each bill. If you receive your bills by paper copy via Canada Post, town staff strive to put all bills in the same envelope. 

  • These bills have separate due date(s) and are not included in tax pre-authorized payment plans  

  • As required under the Municipal Act, 2001, bills are mailed at least 21 days prior to the due date

Property tax changes are applied retroactively to the effective date of occupancy or completion of renovations; the bill may include a period before you owned the property. 

If you purchased the property after the effective date shown on the bill, please contact your lawyer to review your statement of adjustments and arrange any required payment adjustments with the seller.

If you recently moved into a newly built home, your existing property tax bill may only be for the land value of your property. 

The municipality must first receive the property assessment for the fully constructed property from MPAC before a tax bill can be issued. You as the property owner will also receive notice from MPAC regarding your assessment prior to any tax bills being issued. In most cases, MPAC will use the mailing address stated on your transfer deed at the time of the sale.  

For more information about property assessments, please visit MPAC's First Time Homeowners' Hub.

If your property taxes are paid through a mortgage company, a copy of the supplementary / omitted tax bill will also be sent to the mortgage company. You can always reach out to your mortgage company to confirm they will be remitting payment to the Town on your behalf. 

As stated on the supplementary bill; supplementary tax amounts are not automatically withdrawn as part of your PAD and owners are responsible for making separate payment by the due date shown on the bill.

If you disagree with your property's assessment or classification, you may: 

  1. File a Request for Reconsideration (RfR) with MPAC. A deadline to file your appeal can be found on the assessment notice you received from MPAC 

  2. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you can file an appeal with the Assessment Review Board (ARB) 

The ARB is an independent tribunal that hears property assessment appeals.

 Want more information about supplementary and omitted property assessments from MPAC? 

Visit MPAC’s website to learn more about supplementary and omitted property assesments.

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