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Property assessments generally on the rise

NANAIMO – Island properties are valued higher for 2016, but bigger assessments don't always mean more taxes.

Most property owners on Vancouver Island will see higher values on their property assessments for 2016.

According to B.C. Assessment, which announced Monday its 2016 property assessment notices are in the mail, most residential property assessed values have shifted between minus-five per cent to plus-10 per cent across the region compared to 2015.

Assessments for properties within the City of Nanaimo have risen to $336,200 for 2016 from $319,800 in 2015, while Nanaimo rural properties climbed to $311,100 from $303,400. Lantzville  property assessments jumped to $404,800 from $387,200.

Bill Dawson, deputy assessor in Nanaimo for the Island region, said the assessment rolls are based on property market values each year.

The majority of properties in Nanaimo will fall within a zero to 10 per cent increase, Dawson said, with north Nanaimo 2016 property assessments coming in at the high end of the range – about eight per cent – and south Nanaimo property assessments falling in about three per cent higher compared to the previous year. Lower Lantzville residential assessments rose more than 10 per cent.

“It’s all about the different demands of the market place, what people are willing to pay for and the supply of properties in those neighbourhoods,” Dawson said.

But higher assessments don’t necessarily translate into higher taxes. A written statement from the city said the 2016 city budget for property tax revenue will remain the same as already approved by city council and, since the city is already working with a zero per cent property tax increase in the provisional budget, taxpayers will see no increase in property taxes and even decreases in some cases.

For more information, please visit www.bcassessment.ca.



Chris Bush

About the Author: Chris Bush

As a photographer/reporter with the Nanaimo News Bulletin since 1998.
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