Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa has asked officials in his office to review several decisions made by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.

The review may turn out to be good news for the city of Niagara Falls and the Region of Niagara.

In a case similar to one here, MPAC has been orderd to review a reassessment of some northern Ontario mills.  In the case of Espanola, the small town has been ordered to repay Domtar four million after an MPAC property reassessemnt

Town officials say that will mean hiking taxes by 50 percent to come up with the cash

Niagara Falls and the region were ordered last week by MPAC to repay both casinos 16 million dollars after a property reassessment. On top of that the two levels of government will lose a combined 6 million in future tax revenues from the casino.

Niagara Fall mayor Jim Diodati says municipalities and regions like Espanola and Niagara are being bullied by upper level groups appointed by the province and he's happy to hear Sousa has ordered a review of some MPAC decision and he hopes the Niagara Falls decision also gets looked at.  Diodati has reached out to the Minister's office to ask about a review.

Sousa's office tells CKTB News that for the time being, only the Northern Ontario MPAC decisions are being reviewed.