Don’t be alarmed if your house is being photographed.
Digital cameras mounted inside a clearly marked van will soon be on the residential streets of Vernon as B.C. Assessment uses innovation to update photos for property assessment purposes.
The residential photo update initiative will take street-front digital photos of approximately 10,000 single-family homes throughout Vernon.
The target start date is Tuesday.
“As the Crown corporation responsible for accurately valuing all properties in B.C. and many First Nations, we are always looking for innovative ways to provide more timely, accurate, equitable and fair assessments to all property owners,” said Tracy Wall, deputy assessor for the Okanagan.
B.C. Assessment will photograph only the public street front of a home including the street address number.
B.C. Assessment will not retain any personal information related to any images of people on the property, visible signage on a residence including business signs, signs with the names of the people living at the property or any other signage that may identify a person, which includes license plates.
The organization will not shoot the interior of a residence or the interior of an enclosed vehicle shelter such as a garage.
This technology has already been used successfully in the Lower Mainland, parts of the Fraser Valley and Nanaimo.
Visit bcassessment.ca for more information about the digital residential update initiative.
