There is no shortage of places to read about lies told by Dalton McGuinty, Premier or Ontario, Canada. But I could kick myself for not writing down my prediction about the property tax assessment not even two years ago.
April 22, 2006 in the Ottawa Citizen (responding to an Ombudsman’s report [PDF] on the credibility crisis of the Municipal Property Tax Assessment Corporation):
I’ll fix property tax system, premier vows
McGuinty says government is ‘seized’ with fixing problem, but it will take ‘some time’
June 30, 2006 in The Globe and Mail (deferring the problem until after an election):
TORONTO — The Ontario government is freezing property tax assessments for the next two years, all but guaranteeing that the controversy surrounding homeowners’ skyrocketing tax bills will not become an issue during next year’s election campaign.
Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara announced yesterday the cancellation of tax reassessments for 2006 and 2007 to give the embattled agency that assesses residential property values enough "breathing space" to overhaul the system. He said he expects the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. can implement the changes by 2009.
March 23, 2007 in the National Post (I wrote about it too):
The McGuinty Liberals yesterday introduced changes to the province’s much-maligned property tax system, slowing the pace of assessments to every four years in a move labelled by some as insignificant.
[...]
Beginning in 2009, annual assessments will be scrapped and will instead occur every four years. Rate increases would be phased in slowly over four years. Decreases would apply immediately.
Today in The Globe and Mail (safely past the election):
Double-digit jumps in assessments and resulting property tax increases are going to stun some homeowners this year, the president of the Toronto Real Estate Board warned yesterday, as a provincial freeze on new property assessments nears its end.
And from CityNews:
"You have to wait to see your assessment," explained City Budget Chief Councillor Shelley Carroll. "We’re a bit surprised because the current value assessment system is unfair. That’s why it was frozen in the first place. The freeze seems to be lifted without any improvement. [emphasis mine]
Lie before the election, get elected, then go about business as usual. Sounds familiar. Could’ve seen that one coming a mile away.