The Editor,
In mid-February, after receiving my property assessment, I wrote to Coquitlam city council, Tri-City MLAs, provincial leaders and those responsible for housing.
I received a grand total of three responses from councillors, one from MLA Mike Farnworth and a condescending letter from Rob Fraser, director of property assessment.
The consensus was that these issues are mostly the other level of government’s fault.
Why should people be forced to defer property taxes due to governments’ refusal to put in place a property taxation system that is relevant to the services used and ability to pay, instead of being based on land values?
In December, an article on the Coquitlam budget said a city report stated that property taxes would be increasing by 3% annually over the next four years. It stated a home assessed at $595,000 would be assessed $3,050 total in property taxes and utility fees this year. My home was assessed at $584,400 in 2014, less than quoted, but then my taxes were already $3,029, plus $715 in utility fees, for a total of $3,749. The quoted figures are therefore quite fictional.
My pension increased only by 1% this year. My property’s assessed value went up by 32.9% over the last three years — for the same house with no renovations. Actual property taxes went up by 5.5%, 10.2% and 5.94% in 2016, for my home built in 1968. So much for tax increases of “only” 3%.
Comparable nearby homes are quickly selling for more than list price up to $1.5 million. These homes were mostly built in the mid- to late-1960s for around $25,000. Now, with a $778,000 assessed value, my actual property taxes have gone up by 21.64% over the last three years.
I thought that the mill rate was supposed to moderate property taxes, but not so much with the city of Coquitlam.
Since it is obvious that our council isn’t about to do anything about this issue without being forced to, maybe the provincial government should pass legislation that limits property tax increases on existing non-renovated properties. But why would I hold my breath?
Sarah Wilson, Coquitlam
