Dear Editor,
Was the homeowner grant increased because of NDP MLA David Eby’s overflowing townhall meeting last summer and the upcoming provincial election?
Our Liberal MLAs have congratulated themselves on increasing the threshold from $1.2 million to $1.6 million.
While this increase may benefit 91 per cent of homeowners in B.C., it does not benefit most single-family dwellings in Richmond.
In July 2016, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported the MLS home price index benchmark price in Richmond as $1.717 million. Therefore, many homeowners here will not receive the grant.
Keep in mind, this grant is paid from your provincial taxes, and about 50 per cent of your Richmond property tax is paid back to the province.
Is this another vote-getting scheme, where money is taken from those who won’t receive the grant and distributed to the other 91 per cent of the homeowners in B.C. who will pay lower property taxes due to lower assessed values?
Remember to vote in May.
Donald Flintoff
Richmond
