VICTORIA— In addition to the significance of Canada Day, July 1 also marks an important date for property assessments, according to BC Assessment, a leading source of property information in British Columbia.
Each year, BC Assessment prepares a full assessment roll of the entire province’s property values which is released in early January. Assessment notices are mailed to each property owner in British Columbia, indicating the property’s annual assessment. Assessment notices estimate the value of most properties based on market value at a common valuation date of July 1 of the preceding year. Hence, the upcoming 2016 property assessments will be based on an estimate of values as of July 1, 2015.
Changes in property assessments reflect movement in the local real estate market and can vary greatly from property to property. When estimating a property’s July 1 market value, BC Assessment’s professional appraisers analyze current sales in the local area, as well as considering other characteristics such as size, age, quality, condition, view and location.
The Assessment Act requires that all properties are assessed as of a single common date to ensure the fair, equitable and uniform distribution of property taxation based on each property’s value in relation to all other properties within a local municipality or taxing jurisdiction.
Local governments and other taxing authorities are responsible for property taxation and are greatly dependent upon the independent assessments and trusted property information provided by BC Assessment in order for communities to accurately determine their annual budgets and corresponding tax rates. In fact, BC Assessment’s annual assessment roll provides the foundation for nearly $7 billion each year in funding revenue for the vital community services provided by local governments around the province as well as the public school system.
Today, July 2, 2015 marks BC Assessment’s 41st anniversary date as a publicly owned Crown corporation that provides independent property assessments and collects property information for nearly two million properties across the province.
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