North Saanich Mayor Peter Jones wants to audit the property assessment for Victoria International Airport to see if the district should be receiving more in taxes from the airport.
The Victoria Airport Authority, which operates the airport, pays property taxes to North Saanich and Sidney based on its annual assessed value, with about 99 per cent going to North Saanich. In 2023, North Saanich received $985,283 in taxes from the airport authority, the district said.
Jones said at a recent council meeting that it’s possible some airport land assessed as farm use should be considered commercial use, which would increase the property assessment, and mean higher property taxes paid to North Saanich.
The mayor wants access to materials used to assess the land’s value that are not publicly available. He said in an interview that staff have made unsuccessful requests to B.C. Assessment for the information.
Jones brought forward a motion at council last week directing staff to file a property tax appeal of the airport lands before the end of January. He said the appeal would initiate a process that would eventually allow the district to request access to documents it needs to conduct an audit. “Only then can we identify if the airport is being fairly treated and we are not, or if we’re being fairly treated and the airport is fine,” he said during the council meeting.
Councillors voted 6-1 in favour of the motion, with Coun. Jack McClintock opposed.
McClintock noted there was no mention of cost to the district or anticipated outcomes, and asked Jones if there was a record of requests made for the information to demonstrate a repeated effort to access the documents.
“You don’t just jump into hardcore stuff without going through the steps leading up to it, and I don’t see anything before council that justifies taking this next step,” he said.
Jones did not respond to McClintock’s comments at the meeting.
Coun. Phil DiBattista raised similar concerns, asking how long the district had been requesting the desired information. “I want to make sure we’ve exhausted all other options before we do this, because I think this is a pretty big stick we’re going to wag,” he said.
DiBattista hesitated to raise his hand when the vote was called, eventually lifting it partway and lowering it several times before voicing his support.
“I don’t know if it will give you any comfort whatsoever: Remember this is one of my expertise, and has been for 20-odd years,” Jones said to DiBattista during the vote.
Jones said in an interview he has been through the assessment appeals process hundreds of times over the past 25 years in his work as a self-employed land appraiser for industrial clients across the country.
“My overarching concern is if you poke a bear… I just want to make sure we’re prepared,” DiBattista responded.
Jones told councillors it’s not common for municipalities to file assessment appeals, but North Saanich wouldn’t be the first. Jones said he would do the audit himself and it would take him a couple of hours once he has access to the documents he wants.
“There’s no risk to us, other than pissing the airport off,” he said.
District staff are arranging to have someone from B.C. Assessment speak to the district on the matter, Jones said, but a meeting won’t take place before the appeal deadline at the end of January.
Maps by the province’s Agricultural Land Commission show parts of the airport land are within the Agricultural Land Reserve, including a small portion of runway, Rotary Park and some of the parking in front of the main terminal.
The airport has been developing its lands for commercial purposes, with the recent addition of an Amazon distribution centre and a hotel set to open in 2025.
Ken Gallant, vice-president of operations for the airport authority, said North Saanich has not contacted the airport regarding an appeal, and the airport is awaiting its assessment in January.
In 2014, Nav Canada, which oversees air traffic in Canadian airspace, successfully appealed the assessment of its tower at the airport. A court ruled the air traffic control tower had an assessed worth of $20, instead of $1.43 million, which led to a $26,000 loss in property taxes annually for North Saanich.
North Saanich chief administrative officer Stephanie Munro said the airport authority also appealed its assessments a few years ago, resulting in the assessed value dropping by about $30 million. The district received little explanation for the change in assessment, she told councillors.
Tim Morrison, communications adviser for B.C. Assessment, which provides property assessments annually, said B.C. Assessment can’t comment on an active or potential appeal, but he confirmed that a third party is eligible to appeal an assessment.
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