With Campbell Riverites about to receive their property assessments in the mail – if they haven’t already – the City of Campbell River has released some “Tax Facts” it feels people should be aware of, because that assessment is what municipal taxes are based on.
The BC Assessment 2020 assessments were available online as of Jan. 2 and will be arriving by mail any day now. Property values are assessed as of July 1 of the previous year, and are based on the home’s location, view, size, age and comparable sales prices of other similar homes in similar areas of the community.
According to the city’s financial planning officer, Dennis Brodie, the main factor in how much your property tax changes is whether or not the value of your property has increased or decreased relative to other properties in the community.
During December’s financial planning sessions, city council settled on a 2.9 per cent average municipal tax increase, Brodie says, but that doesn’t mean everyone’s taxes go up that much.
“If the property value increases more or less than the average home value, the property tax change will be different,” Brodie says. “We encourage property owners to review the Tax Facts document on the City of Campbell River’s website to help them understand the relationship between property assessments and property taxes. The BC Assessment website also has helpful information, including infographics and videos demonstrating how property taxes are affected by assessed values.”
The city’s “Tax Facts” are posted at campbellriver.ca under “City Services / Property Taxes.” BC Assessment information is at bcassessment.ca under “Your Assessment Notice & Property Taxes.”
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The city also reminds people that they are the tax collectors for other agencies, as well, such as the Strathcona Regional District, the Regional Hospital Board, Regional Solid Waste Board, Regional Library and the provincial school system.
“Because the city is the designated property tax collector for many agencies, the total change people see on their bill is affected by more than just their City of Campbell River taxes,” Brodie says.
If you haven’t received your property assessment yet and you don’t want to wait for it to come by mail, you can simply enter your address on the bcassessment.ca home page. It will give you your current assessment, as well as last year’s, so you know what your increase was. Once the entire community’s change is assessed, you’ll have a better idea about whether your taxes will be going up or not, as that is based on the relative change in your property value compared to the community as a whole.
Property owners who disagree with their assessment may submit a Notice of Complaint (Appeal) with BC Assessment by Jan. 31.
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