The annual property assessments are out and property values have significantly risen in Burns Lake as of July 1, 2020, as determined by the BC Assessment Authority.
“Property assessments are out! Burns Lake leads the region with an increased value of 21%. This is good news since the market value in Burns Lake was significantly lower than the cost to build new. My hope is that this results in more new construction in the region,” said the Village of Burns Lake Mayor Dolores Funk, in a social media post.
Single family residential assessments rose in Burns Lake, up 21 per cent from $148,000 as of July 1, 2019 to $180,000 on July 1, 2020.
Granisle experienced a more modest valuation increase of four per cent — $61,000 as of July 1, 2019 to $64,000 on July 1, 2020.
According to the report, Northern B.C.’s total assessments increased from over $69 billion in 2020 to over $72 billion this year. A total of about $707 million of the region’s updated assessments is from new construction, subdivisions and rezoning of properties.
Each year the assessment authority uses July 1 as its snapshot date to determine market value for all properties and Oct. 31 as the date to determine physical condition of a property.
By percentage increases, Burns Lake’s 21 per cent assessment jump ranked first out of 34 municipal governments with the BC Assessment Authority’s northern B.C. area with Houston coming in at seventh at 10 per cent, a figure it shared with Port Clements on Haida Gwaii.
Smithers ranked second at a 15 per cent assessment hike as did Wells in the Cariboo with Telkwa coming in at third place with a 13 per cent increase.
Property owners began receiving their individual assessments last week, information from which local governments will now take and use to set property tax rates for the coming year.
Significant changes in an individual property’s assessed value do not necessarily mean taxes will also increase.
The important factor is where the assessment for an individual property rests within the average change of that property’s class within the local government or taxing authority.
If the new assessment is lower than the average, taxes might decrease. If the assessment is higher, taxes might then increase.
“Don’t worry, increased property value does not automatically translate into increased taxation. Your Council is cognizant that this has been a tough year, we will be working hard to keep taxation as low as possible,” said Funk in her post.
– With files from Rod Link
Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
@PriyankaKetkar
priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net
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