BC Assessment has offered to dramatically lower the value of one waterfront property in Honeymoon Bay during an ongoing appeal process.
Shelley Robinson’s home and property were initially valued by BCA at $2,234,000, but BCA, an independent body that provides annual value assessments on all properties in B.C., is now recommending $1,111,000 as the property’s value, a difference of a whopping $1.123 million.
But Robinson said she is declining BCA’s latest offer, and asked the appeals board to stop granting extensions on her appeal without her consent.
She said that if she accepts BCA’s offer as it stands, it would be without prejudice and there would likely be no written records of evidence of the offer, and that leaves the door open for BCA to add on the $1.123 million or more to next year’s assessment of the half-acre property again.
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Robinson said the appeals board and BCA have been extending her appeals process on her behalf arbitrarily without her consent to stretch out the process in an effort to have her accept a new offer without any documentation.
She said she has every intention to get a written decision from BCA in the end.
“When you consider it’s been almost a year I have been appealing combined with the fact that BCA said I denied access for inspection when I didn’t, and then tried to pass off old photos (of the property), this whole process has been disheartening,” Robinson wrote to BCA and the appeals board
“The (appeals) board has had my written submission for over one month now and has arbitrarily granted BCA three extensions so I can decide their offer when I am not going to accept. I cannot express my frustration enough, and please do not continue to patronize me.”
Robinson said she expects BCA’s written response to her appeal by its due date, and she will then provide her final written response, as the process dictates.
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The property tax bill for Robinson, a senior with limited income, was an astonishing $12,000 for 2022 based on the $2.2 million value of the property and house.
The home, which was built in 1948, has seen better days after a quarry was constructed on higher ground behind it almost 30 years ago that has caused constant flooding on the property for years.
This has left the house heavily water damaged and dilapidated, and much of the property washed out.
In a letter to Robinson explaining why the decision was made to offer to knock almost half of the original assessment off the property, BCA cited issues with flooding from the lake and from the quarry on the home and property, as well as problems caused by the presence of an old log dump adjacent to the property.
As a result, BCA dropped the value of the property from $1.94 million to $969,000, and the house from $296,000 to $142,000.
Robinson is one of up to 30 property owners in the Youbou/Honeymoon Bay area who are being assisted with their appeals of their property assessments in 2022 by Jason Anson of eXp Realty, which operates in the Cowichan Lake area.
Anson agreed that BCA is trying to avoid any written record of their offer to Robinson and, if she accepts now, everything would be without prejudice.
He said he has a client who won $1 million reduction in an appeal process with BCA last year and there is no record of it.
Robinson said BCA arbitrarily added the $1 million back on this year and he and his client are currently in the process of fighting it.
“In his case, we got the internal notes through a freedom-of-information request and can show the management adding the $1 million back,” he said.
Robinson said there are three steps at the appeals board level that are under oath.
The first is for the appellant to submit a written submission, which is a 50-page document, making their case, and then BCA submits their written response.
“Then Shelley gets the last word in her written response, which is another 50-page document deconstructing BCA evidence,” Anson said.
“At that point, an adjudicator reviews the three documents and then issues a written decision, which is public.”
Anson said he agrees with Robinson’s concern that if she settles with BCA now, they’ll probably raise the property’s value next year, leaving her to fight this battle all over again.
“But if she continues, she has a written decision under oath that she can reference if they jack it up,” he said.
“Right now, if she settles, she has no proof to show for future appeals should she fall into this situation again.”
In a statement, BCA said it can’t comment on any matter related to a specific property and/or the appeals of a specific property.