Bruce County Council is renewing its call for changes to Ontario’s property tax assessment system for electricity infrastructure after a new case study confirmed what local officials have long suspected — outdated assessment practices are forcing local taxpayers to shoulder an unfair burden.
At its June 19 meeting, Council received a detailed report from MTE Consulting examining the financial impact of the province’s static property assessment model on host municipalities like Kincardine, as well as Bruce County. The study revealed that the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station’s share of local property tax revenue has fallen dramatically, from 34 per cent in 2008 to just 17 per cent in 2024.
Claire Dodds, Bruce County’s Commissioner of Community Development, told council the situation has serious implications for residents and businesses, who have been left to absorb the difference.
Bruce County Warden Luke Charbonneau said it is time the provincial system reflected the realities of today’s economy and property values.
"It's more of an issue for every individual taxpayer, even than it is for the municipality itself, because the question of them being asked to pay more of that cost than they should," he added. "I think it's an important thing for us to advocate for on behalf of all of our taxpayers and rate payers."
Electricity generating facilities in Ontario are assessed using a separate, static model rather than the market-based property assessments applied to other properties. This means that as inflation and property values rise, the contributions from the nuclear and energy sectors remain largely flat, forcing host communities to make up the shortfall.
"It's about a share of the pie, right? And so the question is, how much are all other rate payers paying, as compared to how much large, well, any energy producer is paying? And in this case, that share paid by residents and farmers, and other tax classes, is a greater proportion than it ought to be, if everything were fair and equal," Charbonneau said.
The findings will inform Bruce County’s participation in the ongoing Bruce C Impact Assessment process and bolster the County’s advocacy for policy reforms at both the provincial and federal levels. Council also agreed to share the study with other municipalities hosting energy infrastructure, many of which are grappling with similar challenges.
Peter Frise, MTE Vice President, Corporate and Client Services, said the issue will quickly get worse. He pointed out that property tax assessments are still based on 2016 market value, and an updated assessment will happen sooner or later.
"If there's nothing done with the nuclear assessment, that 40 per cent or 45 per cent, attrition that we saw, that happened over 20 years, we're going to see it happen in sort of one fell swoop," he warned. "So, with this kind of market value moving, we have to move those values."
The Municipality of Kincardine and Bruce County worked with the Canadian Association of Nuclear Host Communities (CANHC) to secure funding for the study through the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada’s Participant Funding Program.