By: Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press
Council for the County of Essex received the 2026 Tax Policy, which noted there are no major shifts in tax policy being proposed.
Melissa Ryan, Director of Financial Services/Treasurer, informed members of Essex County Council that property assessments remain frozen with the province deferring reassessment. That means municipalities are still basing their tax assessments from the 2016 values.“
That means year-over-year assessment growth is limited to new construction and changes only,” she said.
Raw assessment increased in 2026 by 1.6%, with most of the growth continuing to be in the residential class. Residential properties make up around 74% of the County’s assessment base.
Ryan noted the Finance Department also did its annual review of optional provincial tax tools. The recommendation is to stay the course.
A new provincial option introduced for this year is the Affordable Rental Housing Subclass, which could allow municipalities to provide up to 35% reduction on the municipal portion of taxes for qualifying affordable rental units within the multi-residential class. County Council, Ryan said, has already taken a prudent step by passing a by-law in 2025 that gives the County the ability to implement the subclass in the future, if desired.
Administration, Ryan added, is not recommending implementation at this time, with the key reason being uncertainty. MPAC has not yet been able to identify eligible properties and hasn’t set the definition of what would be included in this subclass. Because of that, the County can’t do an analysis as to how many properties would be eligible.
The regional group of local Treasurers agrees this should be revisited once the program details are fully understood.
The Small Business Class is still not recommended for implementation, neither was the On-Farm Business Subclasses due to limited uptake and administration cost.
The Vacant Home Tax was revisited, but concerns around data reliability and administration remain, Ryan relayed.
Existing tax assistance programs, like low-income seniors and persons with disabilities, and the charity rebate program, are recommended to continue unchanged.
Previously approved decisions, such as the removal of the commercial and industrial excess land discounts, are recommended to be continued as directed.