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Wednesday, March 25, 2009 Orono Weekly Times - 7 LANDOWNERS Continued from front page MPAC as a result of the protest rallies thus far. Carl Isenburg, President of MPAC, said following the meeting that there is no way to tell how many forms have been generated from the protest meetings, but he has been handed between 100 and 200 forms at each of the three meetings he attended. Erick Dickinson, from the Prince Edward, Hastings, Northumberland Landowners Association, told the audience that politicians and MPAC like to blame each other for the tax system, and the taxpayers is a ping pong ball going back and forth between the two. "The onus is on MPAC to prove to you it has done its job correctly," he stated. Dickinson gave the group a quick lesson on how to fill out their Request for Reassessment forms. "MPAC tries to get you to fill out your form online," Dickinson said. "Don't give in, get them to do this by mail, they get paid to do this, make them work," he advised. On the form, after the section for name and address, there is a question asking, "What is your property's value on January 1, 2008 as shown on the latest Property Assessment Notice." Dickinson advised people to tell MPAC its assessed value is an error. "Is the value of your property now, what you could have sold it for on January 1, 2008?" Dickinson asked. "These chairs would be empty if they [MPAC employees] were doing their job." Section two of the form asks, "Reason for reconsidering your property's assessed value." Don't fill this section out, Dickinson said. "Just put a line through it and have a good day." The onus is on MPAC to do its job correctly; they are getting paid to do this, not you." Dickinson then addressed Carl Isenburg, President of MPAC, an invited guest at the rally, saying, "You realize this is a real issue when people start to lose their farms and their homes. Can you morally sit by and watch it happen?" Isenburg, who has attended these protest meetings at the OLA's request, told Dickinson their argument is with the policy makers who write the policies which he has to uphold. In his presentation at the beginning of the meeting, Isenburg explained that cur- rent assessments are based on changes in property value up to January 1, 2008, and are a snapshot of property value on that day. MPAC deals with 4.7 million properties of which 95,000 had changes in their property values, and 5,000 of these changes were not carried forward. Anyone who feels their property value was not assessed correctly is encouraged to fill out a Request for Reconsideration form, which must be filed with MPAC before March 31st of this year. If MPAC determines no reconsideration is necessary, property owners then have the option to appeal their assessment, which carries a $75 non-refundable filing fee. "It is a misconception that a reduction in assessment will lead to a reduction in property taxes," Isenburg explained. "I could reduce all the assessments here by fifty percent," he explained, "then the municipality would double their tax rate." The municipality has to operate within its requirements, and it sets the tax rate, Isenburg said. The OLA has formed a committee to create a new system of taxation for municipalities. Its report will be ready this fall. Birds of a Feather Birding by Markus Lise Flock of a million blackbirds I could not believe it. Never have I ever seen such a large flock of blackbirds swarming in the sky during my life time. It was just a steady flow of blackbirds from the west, landing in a corn field and on trees bordering the field. Not one of them collided or crashed into physical objects. It seems that they have built-in antennae which will not allow them to bump into one another or other obstacles. Would it not be nice if our means of transportation would not allow us to crash. We took a day this past week to drive to Long Point Provincial Park to see the many Tundra Swans migrating to the tundra. Yes, and we did see 200 Tundra Swans flying over and landing in the marshy area north of Lake Erie. Some people we talked to said there were days that flocks in the ten of thousands of Tundra Swans were sighted during the last two weeks. But the blackbirds stole the show for me. At the tail end of our show, we were pleasantly surprised with the landing of two Sandhill Cranes and two Great Blue Herons. Here at home in Newcastle, the flocks are much smaller in number. Sometimes several different kinds of blackbirds consist of Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles and Brown-headed Cowbirds. But yes, the first day of spring arrived. Mature males are heading north to stake out their claims. The females arrive several weeks later, touching off frenzied courtship displays. Marshes fairly explode with bursts of photo by Jean Iron Yellow-headed blackbird ORONO WEEKLY TIMES 905-983-5301 oronotimes@rogers.com Advertise your business in the today! red as rival males try to prove that they are the biggest, flashiest red-wings around, sometimes settling matters by reckless, highspeed chases. Then as soon as domestic lines have been drawn, the footloose firstyear males appear and strain the tranquility. But older males are dogged defenders of territory, and females are occupied with nesting duties. Unable to win territory or brides, young males gather in bachelor flocks and wait until next year. The females look quite differently from the males. The males are black with red shoulders. The females are heavily streaked with dark brown. Size-wise they are from 18 cm - 24 cm. Hopefully you will get an opportunity to view the many flocks ushering in spring. Directions: Take Highway # 6 south of Hamilton and turn west in Port Dover till you reach Long Point Provincial Park and stop at some of the roadside platforms over-looking the Marshes. Markus Lise lives in Newcastle. He is a retired minister who now works as a "Minister of Nature." Are you in an abusive relationship? Call Bethesda House 905-623-6050 or 1-800-338-3397 (For women with or without children.)