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Property assessments often out of whack

Property assessments in most cases are overstated of what they should be.
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Property assessments often out of whack

Property assessments in most cases are overstated of what they should be.

Why? Assessments are calculated at a computer terminal using real estate sales in your neighbourhood as the basis to value your property. The assessment board has no idea what your house looks like in the inside.

In the City of Nanaimo, the North Town Centre, a.k.a. Rutherford Mall, is 61.03 acres with a property assessment of $106,938,000 in comparison to the Cowichan Commons Centre in North Cowichan which is 42.68 acres with a property assessment of $126,954,000.

The 2011 census has the City of Nanaimo with a population of 83,810 and the combined total population of Duncan and North Cowichan at 33,739. With 50,071 less in population why would the Cowichan Commons Centre be assessed higher than the North Town Centre in Nanaimo? What is North Cowichan doing with the tax dollars they are collecting besides giving everyone employed substantial wage increases yearly on the backs of the taxpayers?

Make sure you check all of the property assessments on your street before paying your tax bill in July. This information is available on line at EVALUEBC and in your local library. You will find some big surprises, and many of you are paying a tax bill that does not coincide with your neighbours. An example would be, your house is 1,200 square feet and your neighbour’s house is 2,000 square feet. Your tax bill could be higher than your neighbour’s and that is not fair. Yes, it is 2017, but in the good old days, the assessment board would come to look at the property both on the outside and the inside and that has to be adopted once again.

Joe Sawchuk

Duncan