The Editor,
Re. “How much is your home worth now?” (The Tri-City News, Jan. 4) and “Land owners see big assessment jumps” (Jan. 6).
In all my life I have never witnessed so much angst and gnashing of teeth as over the issue of residential property assessed values and the impact on property taxes. You’d think these people who have just experienced a huge increase in their net worth are facing financial ruin.
I will be very interested in their reactions if there is a downward correction in property values and yet they see their tax bill keeps going up.
I’ve heard all the stories about people on fixed income or low income, but the reality is, if you own a multi-million dollar home, you’re one of the lucky ones and raising the money against your home or deferring the taxes is easy, so get over it and quit whining.
As a final note, The Tri-City News would be doing a great public service if it explained how property taxes are actually calculated rather than fanning the flames by running stories from the uninformed or hysterical.
Bob Elliott, Port Coquitlam
