This is a question that has come up a lot over the last few weeks as people have been shocked by the substantial increases in property assessments this year by BC Assessments; in some cases by up to 40%!
So does that mean in April, the amount of property taxes we pay annual will go up by 40%?!
To answer that question we need to look at how property taxes work.
When you own or lease a property in B.C., property taxes must be paid yearly for each property. The money raised from the property taxes you pay is used to fund local programs and services, such as:
- Police and fire protection
- Emergency rescue services
- Road construction and maintenance
- Garbage services
- Recreation and community centres
- Parks
- Libraries
- Schools
- Hospitals
How Much Property Tax Do I Have To Pay?
The amount you pay is based on the funds needed to provide the above services for the year. Tax rates are set to determine how to share the cost of providing the services by all those living in that particular community and are set jointly by the city/municipality and province.
Tax rates are adjusted every year to make sure the funds needed to provide services are raised.
So how much tax you will ultimately pay will be based not only on the assessed value of your real estate assets but also on the tax rate determined by the city/municipalities you live in to cover the cost of all the services in your area.
Eg. Assessed Value X Tax Rate = Property Taxes for 2017
Assuming the cost of services has NOT gone up by 40% since last year (it hasn’t we checked) the rate that will be applied to calculate your taxes should in fact therefore be less than last years to offset the increased assessed values this year. Will your taxes be higher than last years? Most definitely. However, they will unlikely go up at the same rate as your assessed values did.
If you want more information on this or have any real estate related questions, do not hesitate to contact us at the Mansour Real Estate Group by email or phone.