It's that time of year again, when the City offers a small little gift for tenants throughout Toronto: rent reduction notices. According toa City of Toronto press release, "this year, 128,109 Toronto households are eligible for a rent reduction under provincial legislation because the property tax on their buildings has been lowered by more than 2.49 per cent during 2010."

That's good news, right? Well, mostly. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but don't count on saving a whole lot of money. Although a few properties do experience dramatic property value decreases, the average savings represented by these noticesis around 60 bucks a year. Perhaps, more importantly, it's crucial to be aware that some landlords challenge these automatic reductions.

After we posted about the noticeslast year, a couple of commenters shared stories in which they were forced to return the funds that they initially saved. This obviously doesn't happen in most cases, but it's something to be aware of before one gets too celebratory about his or her $5 a month savings!

In light of this, here's aQ and A from the Federation of Metro Tenant's Associations(FMTA)我认为比城市的更有用website. And, just in case you didn't get a notice but want to know if you're eligible, here'sthe City's list of property tax changesbroken down by ward.