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2022 BC Property Tax Assessments for Whistler and Pemberton
Property owners are likely aware that the 2022 property assessments have been released by BC Assessments. You should have already received yours in the mail.
Assessments of single family homes in Whistler increased approximately eleven percent (11%) over last year. This resulted in an increase in assessed value of the average single family homes from $2.6 million to $2.9 million. Property assessments of single family homes in Pemberton increased approximately sixteen percent (16%). This brought assessed values of the average single family homes from $1.15 million to approximately $1.33 million. For condominiums and townhomes in Whistler, assessments increased about 17%, from $1.15 million to about $1.35 million.
Calculating Property Taxes & Mill Rates: General Overview
It is important to pay attention to these assessments, because these valuations are used to calculate your annual property taxes. If the assessed value of your property has increased by 17 percent, does that mean your taxes are increasing by 17 percent? Not necessarily, but you’ll want to look out for assessment increases beyond what is expected.
The municipal budget and cost of services determines how much in tax revenue the municipality needs, and this factors into the mill rate. The mill rate is determined from the municipal budget and the total taxable assessment for all properties. It is then applied to individual properties based on the assessed value of those properties.
It follows that the mill rate can go up or down depending on the budget and the total assessed value of the properties within the municipality. The mill rate could go down if property values increased very quickly year over year, or the municipal budget is less than the previous year. This does not mean the dollar amount of your taxes will go down. It does mean that your tax bill won’t necessarily go UP as much as assessed property values in terms of percentage increase.
Whistler Property Tax Increase for This Year
The Resort Municipality of Whistler has indicated a significant tax increase this year. (Read more about it in the Pique Newsmagazine here). The process to arrive at property tax assessments is robust and involved, but it is not perfect. There could be errors leading to incorrect assessments. Because of this, you’ll want to make sure that you are not over-assessed compared to your neighbours. If you believe your property may have been incorrectly assessed, you have until January 31st to file an appeal.
How to Appeal Your BC Property Taxes – Step 1:
How do you file an appeal? The first step is to collect evidence for your argument, including related and relevant sales of similar properties, and examination of the trends for your property type. A REALTOR® can help with this and should be your first call. A REALTOR® can provide you with comparative sales data, and insight to their opinion on valuation. Please note: assessments are not current to today. They are a snapshot of value on a specific date: July 1st of the previous year. So, your REALTOR® will need to assess the value of your property for July 1, 2022, (not today), and then provide you with documentation supporting that valuation. If that estimated valuation happens to be lower than your assessment, you may want to challenge BC Assessment to reduce your tax liability.
How to Appeal Your BC Property Taxes – Step 2:
Following, the next step is to contact BC Assessment staff to discuss your assessment. In some cases, the assessor can agree with your evidence and change your assessment without further challenge. In other cases, you will need to file a formal appeal with the Property Assessment Review Panel (by January 31st). You will need to attend your hearing, usually online or by telephone. It should take about 30 minutes, and you will have 6-10 minutes to present your argument and evidence as will the assessor. Many decisions are made verbally by the panel at the end of your hearing, but they can defer the decision. A final decision must be made by March 16.
How to Appeal Your BC Property Taxes – Further Action If Needed:
After that, if you still feel unfairly assessed, a second appeal may be made to the Property Assessment Review Board before April 30th. This is a detailed process, and information can be found on assessmentappeal.bc.ca. Prior to appeals, attempts are made to come to an agreement with the assessor, and then a telephone conference, followed by submissions of written evidence. Afterwards, a written decision is sent. Appeals rarely get to this stage, but it is available to ensure you are fairly assessed.
Furthermore, one key point to note: The panel and board hearings can confirm the original assessment or order the assessment up or down according to interpretation of evidence.
Contact us for help!
If you have any questions about your assessment and/or the appeal process, call or text taxes to 604-373-0834.
To review your tax assessment with a professional REALTOR®, free of charge, call here: