Goat Staff
Over the past couple weeks, owners of more than 245,000 properties throughout northern British Columbia received their 2016 assessment notices, which are designed to reflect market value as of July 1, 2015.
Valemount residential properties saw an overall increase in value of three per cent. McBride saw an increase in value of one per cent.
“The majority of residential home owners within the region can expect a slight increase, compared to last year’s assessment,” says Deputy Assessor David Keough. “Most home owners in the Northern BC region will see changes in the 0% to +10% range. However, there are some home owners that will see an increase higher then 10% while others will see a decrease, such as in the communities of Fraser Lake, Granisle and Tumbler Ridge.”
Commercial and Light Industrial property owners in the region will see a similar increase in the range of 0 to +10%.
Overall, the Northern BC region’s total assessments increased from $57.3 billion in 2015 to $59.5 billion this year. A total of almost $1.4 billion of the region’s updated assessments is from new construction, subdivisions and rezoning of properties.
BC Assessment’s Northern BC region encompasses approximately 70% of the province stretching east to the Alberta border, north to the Yukon border, west to Bella Coola including Haidi Gwaii and ending just north of Clinton.
The summary above provides typical examples of average 2015 versus 2016 assessed values of residential single family homes for communities throughout the region:
Of note, BC Assessment has launched a newly-enhanced website at bcassessment.ca that includes more details about 2016 assessments, property information and trends such as lists of 2016’s top most valuable residential properties across the province. The website also provides self-service access to the free online e-valueBC service that allows anyone to search, check and compare 2016 property assessments anywhere in the province.
Those who feel that their property assessment does not reflect market value as of July 1, 2015 or see incorrect information on their notice, should contact BC Assessment as indicated on their notice as soon as possible in January. If a property owner is still concerned about their assessment after speaking to one of our appraisers, they may submit a Notice of Complaint (Appeal) by February 1, for an independent review by a Property Assessment Review Panel.
The Property Assessment Review Panels, independent of BC Assessment, are appointed annually by the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, and typically meet between February 1 and March 15 to hear formal complaints.
Property owners can contact BC Assessment toll-free at 1-866-valueBC (1-866-825-8322) or online at bcassessment.ca
