On January 1, 2025, your annual property tax assessment will be mailed out by BC Assessment. In 2024, less than 2% of all recipients of the BC Assessment objected to the value of their property in the assessment.
If you believe that your property has been incorrectly assessed by BC Assessment and that the valuation of the your property does not accurately reflect its true value, you have the opportunity to appeal your assessment through a formal review. We have engaged Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”) to assist our property owners with reviewing and if necessary, appealing their property assessments. The formal review process includes a number of steps:
Step 1 – Review your property assessment notice
When you receive your Property Tax Assessment, please check all the details on the front page carefully:
- Is the information on the Notice correct?
- Is the actual (market) value correct?
Step 2 – Contact the Assessment Office
If after reviewing your assessment, you believe the information on your Notice is incorrect, the Assessment Office should be contacted and concerns discussed with the property assessment appraiser.
Step 3 – Request a review
If following the conversation with the Assessment Office, any concerns regarding accuracy or correctness of the assessment are not resolved, an independent review by the Property Assessment Review Panel should be requested. A written request to the local BC Assessment office must be received no later than January 31.
Step 4 – Prepare for your hearing
Once the independent review request has been submitted, it will be necessary to begin preparing for the hearing. A Notice of Hearing will be sent out with the date for the hearing but is often not sent until just before the hearing date. Hearings will occur on select dates between February 1 and March 15.
Step 5 – Appear at your hearing
Attend the hearing and present the case.
Next Steps
Following the presentation of our case and the Assessment Boards case, the Appeals Panel will deliberate, and the decision may be provided during the hearing, or may be deferred, however, all decisions are rendered by March 16.
If a satisfactory resolution is not received during the Appeals Hearing, it is possible to then appeal the Property Assessment Appeal Board decision. The deadline to file your appeal with the Board is April 30.
Reasons why you might consider appealing your property valuation:
- The BC Assessment does not reflect the property’s market value;
- BC Assessment has incorrectly described your property;
- The valuation of your property exceeds that of other neighbouring properties;
- Other mitigating factors that might affect the value of your property such as:
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- Water or flood damage;
- Noise complaints;
- Traffic noise from a busy road;
- Any other external factors negatively affecting the property
If you believe that the value of your property has been incorrectly assessed, EY are available to help to support and guide you through the appeals process and provide all necessary assistance to appeal your property tax assistance.
Costs:
Other than the initial payment for the appeal filing, assistance with appealing a tax assessment with the assistance of EY is being done on contingency basis, i.e. fees are only payable to EY if the appeal is successful and, in such case, would be payable at a rate of 35% of any amounts that are reduced. The appeal fees are as follows:
The deadline to request a formal review of your property assessment is January 31, 2025.
If you would like to discuss how EY can help you appeal your property tax assessment, please reach out to Seb Foy, Seb.Foy@ca.ey.com or Jeanne Posey, jeanne.posey@ca.ey.com to discuss your property tax assessment.
When emailing, please quote “BC Assessment” followed by your name in the subject line and Jeanne or Seb will reach out to you to discuss whether you can benefit from the appeals process.
