Whereas the current process for implementing BC Assessment Authority valuation changes resulting from appeals or administrative revisions requires local government to retroactively issue tax refunds or supplementary charges within the same taxation year, creating significant and unpredictable financial impacts on local governments; And whereas local governments have no control over the timing or outcomes of assessment appeals or corrections, yet are solely responsible for funding the resulting tax adjustmentsoften requiring the repayment of substantial amounts from local tax revenues, and thereby undermining financial stability and budget certainty; And whereas a deferred adjustment modelwhereby changes arising from appeals or identified data discrepancies are reflected in the next completed January or revised March assessment rollwould enable local governments and other taxing authorities to set tax rates based on an updated and stabilized tax base, while still allowing property owners to benefit from a successful appeal in the following tax year: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request the provincial government to review and revise the procedures governing assessment roll adjustments to ensure that: - revisions resulting from assessment appeals or identified data inconsistencies are not applied retroactively through the supplementary roll; - local governments have a mechanism to address factual discrepancies in assessment data outside of the formal appeal process; and - all appeal-related adjustments are incorporated into the next Completed or Revised assessment roll, to mitigate unanticipated financial impacts on local governments and support a fair, predictable taxation environment for all stakeholders.
Ministry of Finance The Province is aware of concerns regarding the property assessment appeal framework and the impacts to local governments finances, which has been raised in previous UBCM meetings. Ministry of Finance staff have worked with BC Assessment BCA and the Ministry of the Attorney General, which is statutorily responsible for the Property Assessment Appeal Board PAAB. Considerable progress has been made to address the impacts and concerns regarding decision results and transparency of information. BCA and the PAAB provide timely notification when appeals are initially filed, and BCA provides risk to roll reports. The pre-roll sharing of assessment updates has been enhanced so that municipalities can access information on potential changes to the assessment roll for their jurisdictions and facilitate creating appropriate accounting financial reserves. To support increased timeliness in the appeal process, the PAAB has introduced enhanced decision search tools and expanded public access to key documents including the Form 3 Recommendation, which provides a summary of any resolution achieved at a Settlement Conference. Reports and rationale for decisions of the hearing process are distributed to all parties, including municipalities, and are available on the PAAB website: https:www.assessmentappeal.bc.ca. Additionally, the PAAB has prioritized replacing its outdated case management system to better meet operational demands and user expectations. The PAAB continues to track record-high appeal volumes and is successfully reducing the backlog of older appeals, many of which are pending related court decisions before they can be resolved. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Attorney General will continue to work with BCA and the PAAB respectively to facilitate, where possible, the continuing improvement of appeal processes and expediting the resolution of outstanding appeals.