Might as well start to brace yourselves now. All indications are property assessments will be going up across our region and basically in most areas of B.C.
That may seem strange, given what’s been happening with real estate values in the latter part of 2022.
But remember, the assessed values are determined in July and the market didn’t start to decline until after that.
Projections are assessed values for 2023 will be increasing from 5-15 per cent. That’s despite the fact the market has dropped in the vicinity of 15 per cent since July 1.
Keep in mind, the value of your assessment doesn’t mean that’s the price you’d likely get for your house right away if you tried to sell it. And it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to pay more property tax next year, but it could certainly result in being a bit more.
As one reader points out, the BC Assessment office has no plans to make a correction, even though there’s been one of the largest changes we’ve seen for a long time from the midway point of the year to the end.
It begs the question, ‘why can’t the alteration be made?’ In this day and age with computer technology, it wouldn’t take much.
There are some other factors at play here, not the least of which is the status of the collective agreement between BC Assessment and the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1767.
There are bonuses at stake and members won’t want to take money out of their own pockets if an adjustment is made.
The bottom line is extra money could be taken out of our pockets during the next tax period that likely wouldn’t normally have been the case.
Something has to change. Assuming markets will continue downward as interest rates climb, it’s unrealistic to maintain the July date for determining assessed values. We will always be behind the times in having a true value of our properties at the start of each year.
It’s likely BC Assessment is going to see a record number of disputed assessments in the new year, and for good reason. It’ll be interesting to see how that’s handled and whether public pressure results in any changes.