Property Assessments are out

“The markets may have changed since then, but again, keeping in mind the July 1st valuation date for what the markets were doing over the summer,” says Penner.

So what does that mean for property taxes?

“It’s more important how your house went up in comparison to the rest of the community,” says Kris Dalio, Director of Finance for the City of Prince George. “So if the total assessment values went up 5% and your house went up five percent, you can expect to be paying roughly whatever the tax increase the council approves. But if your house goes up more than the average, then you can expect a little bit more because your sort of share of the community pie just got a little bit bigger on average.”

Taxes used to be tied directly to property values. It was called a mill rate.

“A mill rate is an antiquated term. It’s really just the tax rate. So tax rate is in general terms. We let’s say we’re going to collect $100 million from the community. We divide that by the entire assessed value of the community, and that’s what the tax rate ends up being. So it’s really more about it’s more like more about math than anything.”

But if you get your property assessment and it looks way off, there is a recourse.

“I would say the first thing to do would be to jump on our website. We have really good information and tools for property owners to search, compare, look at sales, look at neighbours look around the area. The second step would be to give us a call. We have many appraisers that can help answer their questions and if still unsatisfied after that, we have until January 31st.”

At budget time later this month, Council will also determine how much of the pie is carried by different classifications.

by Cheryl Jahn

Property Assessments are out

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