In what is being widely seen as a classic David vs. Goliath struggle, Orangeville sign maker/retailer Ken Filsinger appears to be garnering more allies in his battle with the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

Local businessman Rod Sutherland told this paper that he has pledged financial support and added that he contacted six other Orangeville businesses who all readily agreed to help.

Mr. Filsinger, owner of Sign Needs on Centennial Road, received a hefty property tax increase of about $4,000 per year after MPAC decided to change his tax classification from industrial to commercial.

The provincial Assessment Review Board (ARB) ruled in December that Sign Needs was a commercial, not an industrial enterprise. It was a decision MPAC opted to appeal two weeks ago.

“People are stepping up to the plate,” said Mr. Sutherland, “they’re digging deep. It’s a substantial amount, but they don’t care if they get their money back.

“It’s not about the money. It’s about a man getting his head kicked by bureaucracy.”

MPAC’s director of legal and policy support, Rose McLean, says the corporation is appealing the ruling because it leaves MPAC and its representatives lacking clarity as to what its task is.

When MPAC’s original assessment was rendered last March, Mr. Filsinger suggested to Orangeville council that the Assessment Act should have a new classification of “light industrial,” which would have a lower tax rate than the present industrial classification.

A November letter from provincial finance minister Dwight Duncan to Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones defined the purpose of MPAC and said the province would not consider a new classification, but would consider each appealed case on an individual basis.

In the letter to Ms. Jones, Mr. Duncan said: “It is the responsibility of MPAC to interpret (Assessment Act property classifications) definitions and to assign each property to a classification based on its characteristics.

“Where an inconsistency or lack of clarity in the administration of the property class regulation is brought to our attention, our government’s policy has been to review and address the individual issues as they arise, rather than to create new definitions which could lead to new challenges and unintended interpretations.”

The latter paragraph might lead to an expectation that the ARB decision should stand as is, and not be appealed.

In a recent interview, Ms. Jones bluntly referred to MPAC as “the monster,” and her anger is shared by the Greater Dufferin Area Chamber of Commerce.

“The (situation) is terrible,” said chamber president Ron Munro in an interview.

“It looks like he won the first round, but now this agency is coming down on him with all the weight of government.”

Mr. Munro also criticized Regulation 282/98, Part 2, Section 6 of the Assessment Act, where an industrial property described as “land used for, or in connection with, manufacturing, producing or processing anything.”

“It is absolutely ridiculous the way it is written,” he said.

“It’s like a cop stopping you for speeding and not telling you what the speed limit is.”

The Dufferin chamber, Mr. Munro said, is in position where the best can do is provide “moral support.” Nevertheless, he indicated that Mr. Filsinger’s dispute with MPAC has been a motivating factor in the Ontario Chamber of Commerce lobbying the McGuinty government to have the Act’s wording changed.

Feeling that this case impacts all local business, Mr. Sutherland is sending an appeal to area business people in a position to aid Mr. Filsinger. If they wish to help, Mr. Sutherland can be contacted at 519- 942-8244.