BC 2009 Property Tax Assessments
Yep, property tax assessments are out and the Vancouver Sun asks how did you do?
This year — unlike in January of 2009 when the system was turned on its ear by political interference — it’s fairly easy to figure out if you’ll win or lose when your tax bill comes out in July.
Let me illustrate with an example that, on the surface, looks scary: Say your assessment notice shows a 15-per-cent increase in the value of your home or business. What to do?
First, don’t panic. Take a moment to read this column, check our website and figure out what this really means.
You’ll find a 15-per-cent increase is no big deal if your home is in New Denver, Kitimat or Clearwater, or your business is in Peachland, Sparwood or Smithers. Because in these places the average assessment — not just yours — is up about 15 per cent. So the impact will be nil. Any hit on your tax bill in July will be due solely to increased municipal spending.
Phew! But it’s a different story if you own property in a major urban center.
However, if this hypothetical 15-per-cent increase is for property in most urban centres — almost all of the Lower Mainland, the Capital Region or the Okanagan — then now might be a good time to panic. Because the average in these places hovers just a few points above or below zero. And if you have a significantly higher-than-average change in value, you get a bigger tax bill.
It’s how the change in your assessed value compares to the average for other properties in your community — not the absolute value of your assessment — that matters to your tax bill.
Well, I guess we’ll just have to hope that Vancouver City Council doesn’t want to raise any more tax money in the near future. You can check the assessment online here if you haven’t received any mail yet.
UPDATE: Don and Larry point out that the REBGV stats package PDF for December is now available online.
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Bull Hubris?… Or Appropriate Owner Confidence? – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” « Vancouver Real Estate Says:
January 26th, 2010 at 12:51 am
[...] EconomicBoom2010 at vancouvercondo.info 5 jan 2010 12:22 pm – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” [...]
Bull Hubris?… Or Appropriate Owner Confidence? – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” « Vancouver Real Estate Says:
January 23rd, 2010 at 3:27 pm
[...] EconomicBoom2010 at vancouvercondo.info 5 jan 2010 12:22 pm – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” [...]
Bull Hubris?… Or Appropriate Owner Confidence? – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” « Vancouver Real Estate Says:
January 23rd, 2010 at 12:57 pm
[...] EconomicBoom2010 at vancouvercondo.info 5 jan 2010 12:22 pm – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” [...]
Bull Hubris?… Or Appropriate Owner Confidence? – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” « Vancouver Real Estate Says:
January 23rd, 2010 at 12:56 pm
[...] EconomicBoom2010 at vancouvercondo.info 5 jan 2010 12:22 pm – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” [...]
Bull Hubris?… Or Appropriate Owner Confidence? – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” « Vancouver Real Estate Says:
January 23rd, 2010 at 12:54 pm
[...] EconomicBoom2010 at vancouvercondo.info 5 jan 2010 12:22 pm – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” [...]
Bull Hubris?… Or Appropriate Owner Confidence? – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” « Vancouver Real Estate Says:
January 16th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
[...] EconomicBoom2010 at vancouvercondo.info 5 jan 2010 12:22 pm – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” [...]
Bull Hubris?… Or Appropriate Owner Confidence? – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” « Vancouver Real Estate Says:
January 12th, 2010 at 9:50 am
[...] EconomicBoom2010 at vancouvercondo.info 5 jan 2010 12:22 pm – “My property got assessed 20% higher than last year! Wooooohooo! I’m going to refinance for another house while you cry-babies live in the dumpsters.” [...]
January 7th, 2010 at 10:13 am
Salaries and prices in Japan:
http://www.worldsalaries.org/japan.shtml
http://www.tokyoprices.com/
1 CAD = 90 JPY. So it is expensive, but not insane. Tokyo rent is ~800 for a 1 bedroom apartment. Vancouver is catching up quick.
January 7th, 2010 at 1:23 am
@Wreckonomics:
Its purchasing power we are concerned about. People in Japan makes 20,000 yen, but it cost them 2,000 yen to buy a can of coke.
January 6th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Western and European standard of living is being subsidized by China and other developing nations.
They are consuming less so that we can consume more.
Thus we are living on credit while they are amassing savings.
China is already trying to diversify out of the dollar. In recent months we’ve seen them sign bilateral agreements with other nations that bypass the US dollar completely.
They are also using these reserves to purchase hard assets and long term contracts for resource rights.
What happens when you continue living on debt?
Eventually the one lending you the money ends up owning everything that used to belong to you.
“The benefits of renting: If I bought the place I’m living in, my kids would be on the own for university, I would not go on vacation and I would not have any retirement.” « Vancouver Real Estate Anecdote Archive Says:
January 6th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
[...] January 2010 · Leave a Comment taylor192 at vancouvercondo.info 5 Jan 2010 10:12 am – “We’re in a $458K condo and saving 30% by renting (compared to a 35/5 mortgage, or [...]
January 6th, 2010 at 11:28 am
@Anonymous: I think you missed RPs point. He was saying that cheap products from china have replaced wage inflation in the west. We earn less money than we did 25 years ago, but many household items are cheaper. When chinese imports get more expensive here either wages go up or a lot of people are fucked (stagflation).
January 6th, 2010 at 11:19 am
@rp:
Quite the opposite. “Poor” people tend to consume instead of save. Giving money only to the rich is a sure way to exacerbate deflation. Heard of “cash for clunkers?”