B.C. Assessment has sent warning letters to 67,000 British Columbia homeowners letting them know to expect outsized increases in their 2018 property assessments ahead of issuing the documents starting Jan. 1.
The number represents a decrease from 82,000 advance-notification letters, as the agency calls them, sent out in 2016 but is the third year in a row that it has sent out tens-of-thousands more than in years past.
Assessment values reflect market conditions and the markets are not as strong this year as they were last year, which would result in fewer letters beng sent, said assessor Tina Ireland.
However, those numbers compare with 37,000 letters in 2015 and 24,000 in 2014.
One difference this year is that condo owners can expect to see assessments soar 10 to 30 per cent compared with single-family homeowners.
“The majority of letters are going to strata [property] owners because that’s were the market [was] the most robust as of July 1,” Ireland said.
Relatively speaking, values were “more stable” for houses in Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby and the North Shore.
In other regions, however, such as the Fraser Valley, Okanagan and Vancouver Island, more owners of detached homes will see increases of 10 to 20 per cent.
Higher-than-average assessment increases have consequences in potentially higher property-tax bills because municipalities and other taxing authorities use average increases to set rates.
Using the average to adjust property-tax rates winds up shifting more of the overall tax burden to homeowners who see dramatically bigger increases in their properties’ assessment.
Those escalating assessments, particularly for owners in the condominium market, are a concern to municipal governments, said Vancouver Coun. Raymond Louie. “It runs counter to our efforts to create affordable housing by increasing more supply,” Louie said.
