Property Taxes

Property taxes provide the Municipality with the funds required to deliver many day-to-day services and programs. Your property taxes are determined by multiplying the current value or "assessment" of your property by the annual tax rate for the property type or "property class". The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) has created a helpful video to explain how property tax is calculated. 

To learn more about the assessment process, please see our property assessments page. 

Bluewater issues two tax bills annually. Each billing is split into two installment due dates. The interim tax bill due dates are the last business day of February and May. The interim tax bill is based on 50% of the prior year's taxes. Interim tax bills are mailed out in early February.  

The final tax bill due dates are September 30th and November 30th. Final tax bills are mailed out in early September. Final taxes are calculated using your property assessment multiplied by the applicable tax rate for the class of property as shown on the tax billing, less what was levied on the interim billing.

Make sure to keep your final tax bill for your records as it shows the annual taxation amount for the current year.

For information about pre-authorized payment plans and different payment options, see our payment options page.

Tax rates

Tax rates are adopted by by-law. To request a copy of current or past-years' by-laws, please contact the tax clerk. 

Change of ownership

When a property changes ownership, the Municipality will mail a tax bill to the property owner on record when the tax bills are issued. An ownership change fee of $40 is added to the account as set out in our fees and charges by-law. Where there are two owners on an account and one is being removed, no fee is charged.

When buying a property, check with your lawyer or our tax department to confirm when the next property tax payment is due.

If you receive a tax bill for a property that you no longer own, please contact the tax clerk. If the property has changed ownership, send the tax bill to the new owner, or return it to the tax clerk, indicating to whom the transfer of title has been made. To prevent misdirected tax bills, please advise the tax clerk in writing of mailing address changes. Failure to receive a tax bill could still result in penalty and interest charges of 1.25% per month applied to unpaid accounts.

Late payments

Penalty and interest charges for late payments are set in accordance with the Municipal Act, S.O. 2001. Penalties and interest are charged at 1.25% and are applied on outstanding amounts on the first day of the month. Penalties and interest are deducted first from all payments made and the balance, if any, will be applied to the oldest outstanding balance first.

Failure to receive a bill does not excuse the property owner from payment responsibility.

Tax certificates

Tax certificates are issued upon request. They include certified information on the status of a property tax account. The cost is $50 per certificate.

Tax certificate requests along with a copy of the payment cheque can be can be emailed to the tax clerk or faxed to 519-236-4329 to begin the process. However, the original signed request and payment cheque will need to be received in office before a tax certificate will be released. Cheques must be made payable to the Municipality of Bluewater.

Please mail, courier, or deliver the original form and payment to Municipality of Bluewater, 14 Mill Ave, Zurich ON N0M 2T0

Tax certificates are processed on a first come, first served basis. We do not offer rush services.