When I bought my condo, I got the property tax info, and found out it had been assessed at $155K (and I’d bought it for $126K). When you’re in a situation where the assessed value is clearly higher than the true value of a property, it’s well worth your time getting the assessment lowered (which will bring down the property taxes).
For residential properties, you pay $75 for a formal hearing about the reassessment. Before that happens though, you’re encouraged to contact www.mpac.ca and resolve it informally with them. I got on the phone with the woman assigned to me, sent her info about the purchase and the property. She offered to lower the assessment to $145K, but after I argued some more (and sent photos showing the rough condition of the property) she lowered it to $140K.
I think I could have gotten a lower assessment if I’d gone through the formal process, but it wasn’t worth the extra investment. As it is it took me a couple of e-mails and a couple of phones calls and is saving me about $100 / year (until the next assessment occurs).
If you think you could argue that your property is worth less than its assessed value, I’d encourage you to try to get the assessment reduced.