Realtor Jason Anson wants to provide information to property owners in B.C. so they can successfully appeal their property assessments from BC Assessment on their own.
Anson, who is with eXp Realty which operates in the Cowichan Lake area, is bringing knowledge he has gained representing approximately 25 property owners in the Youbou area who appealed their 2022 assessments from BC Assessment to a series of YouTube videos that he hopes others in B.C. who plan to appeal their assessments from BCA can learn from.
BCA is an independent body that provides annual value assessments on all properties in B.C.
RELATED STORY: YOUBOU PROPERTY OWNERS FRUSTRATED WITH APPEAL PROCESS
“This is a public service announcement for all property owners in B.C.,” he said on his first video in his weekly series, called “Ask a BC Assessment Expert”.
“I’m an expert on the BCA appeals process and my goal with this channel is to present you with factual information that will, hopefully, inspire you to take action.”
Anson said that the latest property assessments for the Youbou area released at the beginning of 2023 revealed that the area saw the highest growth rates in residential values on Vancouver Island, and the impacted homeowners were in an uproar over it as many had seen their property assessments increase more than 100 per cent in a two-year period.
“They knew something had to be wrong and they weren’t too far off,” he said.
“In my community, one in four property owners appealed their values and BC Assessment has conceded 75 per cent of the time, with a recommendation of $5 million total for those that appealed, and that’s just the start as we’re looking for $15 million. In the end, I wrote 25 written submissions for property owners who were looking to appeal and I haven’t lost yet. If BCA got it so wrong on Cowichan Lake, what could the impact and relevance be on your community?”
In the first YouTube video, Anson highlights the case of Youbou waterfront property owner Shelley Robinson whose dilapidated property was initially valued by BCA at $2,234,000, but after an appeal process assisted by Anson, BCA is now recommending $1,111,000 as the property’s value, a difference of a whopping $1.123 million.
RELATED STORY: HONEYMOON BAY PROPERTY OWNER SAYS ASSESSMENT ON HOME WAY TOO HIGH
“So if you thought your assessment was too high and maybe you even appealed it before but found the process too complex, then maybe you can relate to the challenges that BCA puts forward for homeowners to succeed,” Anson said.
“You may be asking yourself why should you care, and maybe you don’t, but I’m not sure there is any advantage to having a high tax assessment more than an accurate value. If you can’t take your BCA assessment to your lender, then I don’t think there’s any benefit to having an over assessed property. Instead, it leaves you with a higher tax bill.”
Anson said that too often, people don’t appeal their BCA assessment because its too hard and too many fail, but homeowners no longer have to feel at a disadvantage if they take advantage of the information he provides on his YouTube channel.
He said the public needs to understand that BCA is not perfect, and property owners should inquire about their assessments.
Anson said the templates for appeals that he has created are of value to homeowners and they can easily fill them in.
“This will allow homeowners to put something forward to the Property Assessment Review Panel (which is appointed annually by the provincial government to hear formal complaints and is independent from BCA) rather than defaulting decisions that say the homeowner didn’t provide evidence,” he said.
“This ultimately allows BCA to provide nothing to defend their values since the home owners go first in the process. This would force BCA to show their hand earlier than they are doing now at the Property Assessment Appeal Board (the second level of appeal for property assessments in B.C).”
The link to Ask a BC Assessment Expert YouTube channel is https://youtube.com/@bcassessmentappeals.