County rejects farm tax break

Elgin County councillors on Tuesday, Jan. 14, unanimously rejected a request from Elgin Federation of Agriculture for a rejigging of property tax on agricultural land.

Councillors unanimously rejected a request from EFA to have the tax rate for farm fields lowered from a quarter of what residential properties paid. Local farmers saw the value of their properties rise by 50 percent in 2012 reassessments by the Ontario Municipal Property Assessment Commission.

That’s resulted in them paying more than what they feel is a fair proportion of the total county tax levy.