B.C. Assessment short on resources

Re: Dan Fumano: Quiet end to Musqueam's long-running tax dispute leaves questions for other developers

I worked for B.C. Assessment for 28 years. This issue is but another attack on B.C.'s property assessment system that belies the overarching effort by multinational real estate consulting firms to overwhelm B.C. Assessment.

Not only do these interests drag B.C. Assessment through the courts for issues like these, but they also drive down high-profile property assessments such as the old Oakridge Transit site. Assessments have been perennially well below what the Assessment Act says should be “actual value,” which is synonymous with market value.

This site was sold to developers in 2016 for $440 million, but since then has never been assessed at anywhere close to that value. The assessment actually reduced from 2023 to 2024, from $371 million to $321 million — this in a market that has increased dramatically since 2016, and in 2020 the City of Vancouver approved its redevelopment plan. This should have created significant value uplift from the 2016 sale price.

This is not an isolated example. Among many others, there is the 11-year legal debacle involving Seaspan in North Vancouver, which has also languished in the courts.

B.C. Assessment is not to blame. They don't have the legislative powers, or the resources, to meet their legislative mandate. Until local taxing jurisdictions hold the provincial government to account on this matter, you and I will be paying more than our share of the property tax burden.

Derek Holloway, AACI, retired