Channel Ridge owners appeal to BC Assessment

A group of Channel Ridge property owners is set to begin the first stage of an appeal process following surprising increases to their BC Assessment values.

Murray Nurse, president of the Channel Ridge Home Owners’ Association, said the building portion of his assessment went up $60,000 this year despite the fact that he’s made no improvements. Other Channel Ridge properties saw similar increases, while the trend for most Salt Spring properties was a decrease overall.

“I’ve been emailing people to let them know they can appeal,” Nurse said.

By Jan. 31, the last day possible to register a complaint, he estimated around 20 to 30 out of 35 association members were going to follow suit, while non-association members in the neighbourhood might also be joining in.

Channel Ridge resident Garth Hendren confirmed that he is one of the people who has entered the complaint process, stating the assessment on his building had gone up 15 per cent, “which is excessive considering all kinds of factors.”

“Other people I know on the island in similar neighbourhoods, the assessment had not gone up so much or did not go up at all.”

Hendren suggested the problem might be that assessments aren’t based on an actual physical check.

Rick McMahon, an assessor for the Capital Regional District, said Channel Ridge is not the only neighbourhood in the Gulf Islands to see an overall increase. He also noted that assessments are calculated on the market value of the property as of July the previous year.

Assessments are based primarily on the value of the land, and assessors can get a good idea of that figure based on recent bare land sales in the area. The building value, McMahon said, is “what’s left over.” Building values can increase without improvements because rebuilding costs are calculated each year and include rising labour, material and construction costs.

In regard to the Channel Ridge assessments, McMahon said, “We were spot on in the first half of the year,” but then two or three sales since Nov. went through at under the assessed values.

Normally there is a two per cent complaint rate, but the possibility that 10 per cent of Channel Ridge owners could be filing appeals warrants further investigation, McMahon said.

“This indicates something we’ll have to spend a bit of time and review. We’ll be looking at these on a one-on-one basis and we’ll have assessors look at what’s happening on Channel Ridge.”

Property owners with concerns about their current evaluation can discuss them with assessors until Jan. 31 each year, and may find that an amendment can be reached informally. If this does not happen, complaints registered as of the cut-off date will be scheduled for a hearing with the Property Assessment Review Panel. PARP members are members of the public appointed by the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development.

If the outcome is not satisfactory, a second level of appeal can be taken to the Property Assessment Appeal Board, whose members are appointed by Cabinet.