Prince George compares favourably on property tax front
(News) Wednesday, 13 February 2008, 15:58 PSTMARK NIELSEN Citizen staff
The average Prince George homeowner paid the lowest amount of property tax and user fees to local and provincial governments last year compared to six other B.C. communities of similar size, according to data from the Ministry of Community Services' local government branch.
The average resident in Prince George paid $2,619. Of that, $1,329 was for general municipal plus another $469 in user fees for sewer and water utilities for a total of $1,798 that went to city hall.
Only Langley District paid less for for general municipal at $1,262, but add on user fees of $706 and the total rises to $1,968. And add on the school tax, which goes to the provincial government, property taxes paid to the regional district and other property-related taxes and the total rises to $3,121.
Prince George also came out ahead in comparisons to five other municipalities.
In Nanaimo the average homeowner paid $2,938 of which $1,464 was general municipal, making it second best among the seven. Kelowna was third at $3,063 with $1,373 going to general municipal.
Langley District was fourth for total property taxes and user fees while fifth was Kamloops where the total was $3,217 of which $1,461 went to the municipality. Sixth was Victoria at $3,593 of which $1,684 was general municipal and seventh was North Vancouver District, where $4,350 was the total bill, of which $1,884 was general municipal.
In 2007, the value of the average home in Prince George was $166,404, in Kamloops it was $247,997, in Nanaimo it was $295,422, in Kelowna it was $387,378, in Langley District it was $433,193, in Victoria it was $479,174 and in North Vancouver District it was $738,838.
All those totals will be up substantially for 2008, but the according rates per $1,000 will drop accordingly once the tax levy has been set.
Prince George city council is looking at a levy increase from 2.5 to 7.6 per cent depending on how many additions council members decide to add to the city's list of services.
Prince George's standing in relation to those other communities was made known to council during a presentation at the start of budget discussions earlier this month.
Prince George also compared favourably on a per capita basis according to another set of numbers from the ministry. Home to 77,148 people, Prince George paid the city $434 per person in property tax, the lowest of the seven.
Next lowest was Langley District, where 97,125 people live, at $436, followed by Victoria, population 77,369, at $494, then Kamloops, population 82,714, at $500, then Kelowna, population 109,490, at $514, then North Vancouver District, population 87,073, at $515, and then Nanaimo, home to 79,626, at $540.
Businesses also got the fairest shake in Prince George. Accounting for 17 per cent of the city's assessment total, they paid 25 per cent of the levy and were charged 2.15 times the residential rate per $1,000.
Next best was Kelowna, where they made up 13 per cent of the assessment total, paid 28 per cent of the levy and were charged 2.59 times the residential rate. Kamloop's businesses also made up 13 per cent of the assessment total and paid 28 per cent of the levy but were charged 3.03 times the residential rate.
In Nanaimo they made up 12 per cent of assessment, paid 29 per cent of the levy and were charged 3.32 times the residential rate. In Langley District, they made up 12 per cent of assessment, 30 per cent of the levy and paid 3.33 times the residential rate.
North Vancouver District businesses were six per cent of the assessment, 18 per cent of the levy and 3.76 times the residential rate and was Victoria at 23 per cent of the assessment, 51 per of the levy and 3.7 times the residential rate.
The numbers can be downloaded from the Ministry of Community Services website, www.gov.bc.ca/cserv/. Click on local government, then infrastructure and finance, then tax rates.
posted by Colin @ 4:02 PM
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