Dear Editor,
It makes no sense to base the 2017 residential property taxes on the July 2016 inflated housing market peak when prices have clearly since dropped and are expected to fall even further in 2017.
As reported, the 2016 exceptional peak assessment was a blip and significantly reduces the home owner grant, as well as widening the gap between single family and townhouse/condominium dwellings.
The 2017 assessments bear little resemblance to the current property valuations and are just not fair and are distorted between dwelling types.
This assessment situation is predominately penalizing long-term single-family residents, including a lot of senior citizens on fixed incomes.
It would make more sense for Richmond city council to step up and request the BC assessment office to reissue the Richmond assessments based on the previous year’s property tax assessments, as they did a number of years ago when a similar volatile housing market peaked and distorted the assessments that would have put the home owner grants out of reach of many citizens.
Further, the insatiable appetite Richmond City Hall has for the annual tax increases, which are far beyond the cost of living index, seems out of control. Citizens do not want to hear, yet again, that most of the annual increases are beyond the city’s control. It should be incumbent upon the city to control costs and trim whatever is necessary to live within the cost of living index like most individuals and businesses have to do for survival.
Geoff White
Richmond
