Yet another Youbou waterfront property owner has successfully appealed his evaluation from BC Assessment, seeing almost $400,000 taken off his assessment for 2024.
John Duggan owns a 1950s-era cabin that has no power and running water on approximately 0.72 acres on a remote logging road.
BCA initially assessed the property at $1,588,700, which is a 10 per cent increase from the previous year and a whopping 107 per cent rise over three years, despite the property lacking power and running water.
Believing the assessment to be much too high, Duggan appealed it by the deadline on Jan. 31, 2024.
Jason Anson, a realtor with eXp Realty who has successfully helped dozens of homeowners in the Youbou area appeal property assessments that they considered too high, stepped in to assist Duggan with his appeal to the Property Assessment Review Panel by providing expert testimony on Duggan’s behalf.
However, the PARP delayed its decision, ultimately upholding BCA’s original assessment.
Refusing to accept this outcome, Duggan escalated his appeal the next step to the Property Assessment Appeal Board in a telephone conference in May, again with the assistance of Anson who, over the last two years, has helped more than 40 homeowners reduce their overvaluations by more than $15 million, averaging $400,000 each..
Following the conference, the PAAB granted BCA a month to reassess and report back.
Duggan, who sought a valuation of $1.2 million, initially received an offer of $1.3 million from BCA, which he declined.
The next day, BCA conceded to his request, offering the $1.2 million valuation Duggan was seeking.
“This process highlights significant issues within BCA,” said Duggan.
“How could BCA be so wrong in their valuations and drag homeowners through a six-month ordeal, only to concede before under-oath written submissions? These problems could have been resolved in February, but BCA appears to rely on homeowners giving up due to the various smokescreens they put in place.”
Anson added that, rather than fix the problem, BCA appears to simply shift the issue to another homeowner, essentially making others pay for these successful appeals.
“I have tried tirelessly to seek reform in this area, but it falls on deaf ears at the provincial government level,” he said.
“They know, and they just don’t care. It’s business as usual, so truly the only way to fix this mess is one homeowner at a time, as seen in the continuation of the Youbou group story of appeals.”
Duggan pointed to other Youbou residents who appealed their assessments this year.
He said that of the 10 appeals, only his was successful, thanks to expert representation from Anson.
Anson said the financial implications for the homeowners are substantial.
“With an overvaluation of nearly $400,000, affected homeowners would face approximately $2,000 in additional property taxes annually,” he said.
“This case underscores the need for greater transparency and accuracy in the assessment process to ensure fair treatment for all property owners.”
The Citizen has reached out to BC Assessment multiple times but have yet to receive a reply.
