A British Columbia tribunal ruled municipalities have a responsibility to ratepayers. However, this duty is only for accurate calculations of property taxes..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the decision was made in Duncan, BC, where the average property value increased by 34%. Meanwhile, the City Council raised taxes by 14% over two years..“I accept the City owes a duty of care to its taxpayers to accurately calculate property taxes,” wrote adjudicator Alison Wake of the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal, the province’s small claims court. However, she added that municipalities could not be sued for general increases in taxes..George Spong, a Duncan ratepayer, filed his claim after the BC Assessment Authority hiked local assessments last year. The City, in a January 4, 2022 notice, acknowledged the increase “The average value of a home in the City of Duncan has increased from $399,322 to $533,833, an increase of almost 34%,” it said..Spong noticed a big jump in the value of his property assessment. It went up by a “whopping” 69%, going from $213,000 to $361,000 last year. He mentioned this significant increase in a letter he wrote to the editor of the Cowichan Valley Citizen newspaper..“We are at their mercy,” said Spong..“We are dealing with a Duncan mayor and council and city staff who are bitten by the greed devil. All I ask is that other citizens who are duped into paying exorbitant taxes unite.”.Spong complained to the Civil Resolution Tribunal that unnamed "clerks" were really in charge of the city, not the elected officials. He said the city councillors were “not demonstrating leadership.” However, the Tribunal disagreed and dismissed his case..“I acknowledge Mr. Spong’s frustration with the City’s communication with him, or lack thereof, but find he has not proven the City has acted negligently,” wrote the Tribunal. .“Mr. Spong’s property taxes likely increased because the percentage increase of his property value was significantly higher than the average.”.“Mr. Spong argues the City negligently assessed his property taxes,” wrote the Tribunal. .“To succeed in a claim for negligence, Mr. Spong must prove the City owed him a duty of care, the City failed to meet that duty, and the failure resulted in the claimed damages.” .Arbitrator Wake concluded that Spong did not..The City of Duncan increased its property tax rate by 5.2% last year, and this year, they raised it by another 8.9%. Along with these increases, the assessments on properties also went up. On average, residents paid around $3,365 in taxes on their homes, which includes a school tax of $725, according to the City's calculations..Taxes nationwide vary widely on a half-million dollar home from an average of $1,800 in St. John’s to $2,000 in Burlington, $2,200 in Québec City, $2,700 in Regina, $2,800 in Lethbridge, $3,100 in Winnipeg and $3,600 in Fredericton, according to a national survey by Nesto Inc. mortgage brokers.
