Regional property assessments relatively stable in 2011
By Mona Mattei
Not much change is the phrase of the day for 2011 property assessments rolling out to the Boundary this week. Business property owners are likely to see an increase in their values right across the region with Grand Forks being the highest, but residential values dropped everywhere except the City of Grand Forks itself which saw a slight increase. The slight increases or decreases seen in the Boundary are signs of a stable market, says Dan Gaudry, Regional Deputy Assessor. “When you see minus five, plus five percent, which is what’s happening, we’re regarding that as a fairly stable market place,” says Gaudry. “It’s not inconsistent with elsewhere. The amount of new construction in this region at large is down, but there wasn’t as much new construction in that area to begin with so there’s not really a big change there.” Assessments are the estimate of a property’s market value as of July 1, 2010. Real estate sales in the area determine that value which is reported annually by BC Assessment on notices. Gaudry says that although the numbers are not broken out on their website, the rural area around Grand Forks is down a couple of percent including Christina Lake. Residential values in Greenwood are down -2.83 percent over last year’s assessment, Midway is down -0.18, while Grand Forks is up 1.68. “A typical family home (in Greenwood) that was assessed at $174,000 on the last assessment is now valued at $170,000 for 2011. In Midway a typical single family home was $172,000 in 2010 is now valued at $170,000 for the 2011 assessment,” explains Gaudry. “In Grand Forks the family home that was assessed at $293,000 on the last assessment is now valued at $297,000 for the 2011 assessment.” Business values are up 9.01 percent in Grand Forks, 1.32 percent in Greenwood and 5.0 percent in Midway. But don’t confuse assessments with taxes. Local governments and other taxing authorities are responsible for property taxes and will be setting rates later this spring as they look at their budgets. “Property owners who feel that their property assessment does not reflect market value as of July 1, 2010 or see incorrect information on their notice should contact the BC Assessment office indicated on their notice as soon as possible in January,” says Gaudry. There are assessors available in their Penticton office at Service BC, 40 Calgary Ave., or by phone at 1-800-990-1192. The appeal cut-off deadline is Jan. 31. A new feature this year is the BC Assessment website at www.bcassessment.ca where you can do a comparison for sales in your area online or click on the e-valueBC link. If you haven’t received your assessment by Jan. 19 please call 1-800-668-0086 so they can get your assessment to you, says Gaudry. The Grand Forks area assessment roll increased from $548.1 last year to $566.1 for 2011, Greenwood went from $76.2 million to $74.4 million, and Midway increased from $100.4 million to $100.6 this year.
For the first time in B.C. history, the total value of all 1.9 million real estate properties on the provincial assessment roll has surpassed $1 trillion. Go to www.bcassessment.ca and click on the 2011 assessment roll for more information.
