¶ … Office's Functions In Ontario, Canada, a key aspect in establishing a mass appraisal system and its effective operation is an automated property evaluation system. In addition, a completely registered real property and GIS database, covering all types of properties and transaction systems are created based on such a database. An integrated real property system and GIS are in operation in Ontario, Canada. The property center stores and updates real property data, administers property register and maintains GIS systems in Ontario. This enhances the process of evaluating real property for public needs incorporating taxation. Information regarding the registered real property totaling to millions of projects is stored in the integrated database. Information about property and market transactions stored in a uniform fashion creates the possibility to automate and standardize mass appraisal process and identify factors influencing value. The adoption of this system was of great value to the community because of improved service delivery from the valuers. The use of the system has also highlighted the city on the global arena because of the efficiency if offers to clients in the property market (Hanna & Culpepper, 2009).

After Mass Appraisal Development in Ontario, Canada

The center of registers in Ontario has created a mass valuation model for building and land and developed value maps. GIS software was used in this process. In cases where experts failed to adopt standard software for some works, they tried to develop their own solutions to achieve full automation of the mass valuation system and implementation based on GIS principles (Harmon, 2013).

The initial experiment of mass appraisal of buildings and constructions in Ontario was passed in 2001 (Esposito & European Commission, 2010). After the passing of the law on real property tax, appraisal for real property acquired the legal status and the appraisal results became imperative. Therefore, mass appraisal of the constructions and land parcels is performed annually. Increasing the utilization of statistical approaches in the processing and selection of data has reduced the possibility for random factors and mistakes influencing value (Hanna & Culpepper, 2009).

Annual mass appraisals are conducted based on annual markets. The prepared maps on land value and mass land appraisal reports of municipal jurisdictions are submitted to the municipal management and presented for public discussions. The valuer's goal is to create the constructions and land value estimation algorithms in the most precise manner, without deviating from the rules of mass appraisal (Kauko & D'Amato, 2008). These algorithms form the basis for estimating the average market values as equivalent to the market values as possible. When the correction of the identified inaccuracies has been done, the outcome of the mass land appraisal is forwarded to the national land department under the ministry of agriculture. The goal of the ministry is to approve appraisal models and value maps.

Each year, appraisals have been conducted with more accurate and precise consideration of not only the most crucial factor to the actual property value (location factor), but also of other variables influencing the value. In the municipalities, the number of value zones is higher because the cities are bigger. A precise consideration of location results from high land values (Von, 2010). In Ontario, the inaccuracies of zones results in high value deviations than in areas where land is not marketable resulting in low value.

In the latest appraisal, the availability of additional information on market land sufficed. In fact, it was possible to estimate the effect of non-cultivated, swamp and damaged land with the value of land parcels (Harmon, 2013). As a result, the owners who had land portions whereby non-cultivated area occupied most of the land, complained about high value estimation for the land parcel. Real property and value maps appraisal models assume a critical role in the mass appraisal system. When the aspects reasonably are created with respect to the market, the findings acquired with respect to the market value will be accurate.

The quality of the results and labor expenses depend on data reliability. Graphical measures and statistical methods are used to check and make revisions. The knowledge of the real property market and the experience of property valuers as experts within the domain being valued are important. When the disputed transactions are eliminated, the valuer makes a specification of the land appraisal model. Here, the expert determines factors and characteristics that affect market prices and their relationship (Esposito & European Commission, 2010).

It is important to analyze the effect of time. The valuer adjusts prices accordingly after estimating the impact of the time factor. The effect of location factor leads to land...

This results in the development of social amenities, streets, communication networks and other infrastructure elements. Appraisal of the effect of the location aspect ends in land value mapping. Under model specification, land parcel information is grouped based on the features, critical to the land market value. They include the purpose, value zones, agricultural land, and productivity grade, size of the land parcel and recreation use (Hanna & Culpepper, 2009). The mathematical association among these variables and prices result in a model. The impact of characteristics that describe the property in the model upon the value of the land is established through calibration of models.
Integration of the Mass Appraisal and GIS

An automated property appraisal model cannot be separated from the integration of graphical data. Currently, the integration of automated mass appraisal and GIS is an integral and common process. The results of mass appraisal in Ontario, Canada are used not only for calculating real property taxes, but also for also other public purposes. Various organizations and institutions use the data, including residents of Ontario, Canada. It is extremely imperative to provide an opportunity for all interested persons and institutions to receive property values as quickly as possible (Eposito & European Commission, 2010).

As such, there should be an assurance of the possibility of receiving comprehensive information in a format accessible for all. This must be conducted concurrently to guarantee protection of personal information. Varieties of methods are used to supply mass appraisal data to users in Ontario, Canada. The most common is the supply of information through internet depending on the unique number of the property. Distinct applications to register and appraisal information are created for the institutions that require specialized data (Hanna & Culpepper, 2009). In addition, the owner of the property is given an opportunity to order an approved (official) excerpt from the office of the real property register specifying the relevant value of the property. These excerpts are necessary for documenting succession and concluding transactions.

Recommendation

Some property owners tend to question the new evaluated value, in such a case, the first step can be to contact the evaluation officer's office in Ontario to verify the records encompass data about the owner's property (Esposito & European Commission, 2010). The next step will be to review sales and any relevant data used by the evaluator in the mass appraisal process. The property valuer will have information on sales in his office or via a county website. The owners of properties will bring recent neighborhood sales to the attention of the valuer for consideration (Kauko & D'Amato, 2008).

The valuer's office will review the sales as they relate to their neighborhood sales analysis. This will help in confirming that their evaluations are within a reasonable value range comparable to the sales. Because Ontario values properties on an annual basis, it must provide homeowners with data that covers the local sales used in the mass appraisal for property for the property tax assessment of that year (Von, 2010). It is also appropriate for the valuers' office to be sensitive to technological changes. This requires the office to be receptive and fast in adopting new technological gadgets that will bolster its ability to offer better and enhanced service delivery. This will also be helpful in reducing cost of operation and enhancing efficiency.

Conclusion

Ontario, Canada began the development of mass evaluation system some years ago. This approach was directly related to the intended introduction of a market value actual property tax. A modern real property register, adequate institutional structure, and favorable political decisions enabled Ontario to develop a mass valuation system of construction and land. A flexible mass valuation approach permits annual updates of value maps at low costs, accessible market valuation information to the public and use of diverse needs in the private and public sectors (Von, 2010).

The adoption of the mass appraisal model of real property in Ontario; where a computerized registration and storage of information in the common database has been a successful process in the application of new technology. It has fostered the acquisition of more accurate values and improved the appraisal process. Previously, Ontario had to rely on either expensive services provided by independent valuers or settle for the cadastral values, which were not anywhere close to the real values. Automated mass valuation enables the estimation of the average market values, which are accurate enough and cheap to calculate for special purposes (Kauko & D'Amato, 2008).