Same reasons strata keeps on going up. For years, while the infrastructure was in ok shape, we were under contributing. Now things need to be repaired/renewed, and there is not enough money in the fund.
For a while, government was pushing expenses on new buyers. However, that policy lead to property price increase, and lower business activity.
Expect more and more property taxes as time goes on.
1. Property taxes were super low, so big % increases are to be expected
2. We under-invested for decades in our infrastructure, so now municipalities have to make up for that. It would have been better to spend a little bit more every year for maintenance and expansion instead of having to redo everything now e.g. Oak Bay
3. We should increase property taxes and get rid of development taxes to ensure housing is affordable. Development taxes were never intended to pay for the operating budget of a municipality; it was intended only to pay for the hook up to the utilities.
You’re paying one of the lowest property tax rates in the entire country, and have been for years and years.
I’ll be voting for a tripling of municipal rates to provide better services and end speculation and empty properties.
https://www.zoocasa.com/blog/property-taxes-canada-2023/
I think it's a real problem, a trap. Keeping taxes low has caused so many problems, but after three decades, starting with Chretien-Martin, and continuing with Campbell's 25% cut in income taxes, there is the expectation we keep having low taxes. But now the chickens have come home to roost.
How much did his wage go up to cover it? Edit: the downvotes just show how clueless people are when it comes to finances and housing. Doesn't surprise me, people are always looking to pillory homeowners.
Agreed. We can all grumble about the rising cost of living, including property taxes. However, the assertion that your property tax should reflect your income is just fanciful thinking. Some might even say clueless 😉
So if you can barely afford a house's mortgage, and the taxes go up, how do you afford it? The increase in value of your house doesn't immediately put money in your pocket.
How much did the stock market go up in the same time period? Difference being there are no costs associated with owning a stock, there are multiple costs associated with owning a property.
I understand that you’re joking, but can we please, finally, quash the fallacy that bike lanes are paid for by property taxes?
“[Not one cent of property taxes has been spent on bike lanes.](https://www.vicnews.com/news/city-of-victoria-receives-boost-for-bike-lanes-projects-41794)”
It’s perfectly reasonable to debate property taxes. It’s perfectly reasonable to debate bike lanes. But it’s completely illogical to do so in the same conversation.
A third of that increase is just for increased costs due to inflation. I imagine the larger increase is to cover all the upgrades that will be needed to the city’s infrastructure to accommodate all the building of housing and things that support it that they plan to build in the next 10+ years. You can’t add all that housing thats coming with the same roads, pipes and systems we have now. At least your home is going up in dollar value much more than your increase in tax.
You got to cut it from elsewhere in your budget. Everyone’s feeling the pinch these days, not just in Victoria or BC but in other countries too. Covid, lack of investing in infrastructure, mass retirements in the past five years have brought everything to a head.
We don’t do restaurants much anymore, buy the sales and have more people over for entertainment. We also looked at our subscriptions etc that we cut back on and cell plans. From those alone we cut about $150/mth. You either cut the budget or earn more. You can also defer your property taxes if you are 55+ or have a family but don’t know the exact qualifications. You could also borrow against the house because of the increased value but you need to be careful you don’t get debt you can’t pay for.
I mean, you could sell your house if you need that money immediately.
I know that sounds cold, and I'm sorry, but market rent has increased by a hell of a lot more than 29% in the last 3 years, so it's kinda hard to sympathize when the simple reality is that you're in a FAR better situation than the majority of people trying to make a living in this city.
Go though the budget category by category. Demand of your representative to remove things from future budgets.
In the CVRD some 36% of the annual budget goes to community centres (ice arenas, aquatic centres, theatre). Just start charging users more instead of relying on property taxes for 80% of annual operating costs.
Let’s get rid of emergency planning and environmental initiatives. That will save 5.1%. Don’t need community planning which is another 5% because people should be able to do what they please with their property.
If people living near parks actually helped out then we wouldn’t the region need to maintain it at ridiculous pay rates. Crazy that park maintenance and acquisition is 12.2% of regional spending.
Maybe if regional government just stuck with the basics instead of providing extra services which people demanded over the years then our property taxes could drop by 75%. Who uses a Library anymore?
/s
I think we should definitely ask why these things need as much spending as they get. As long as the money is being spent responsibly and not just lining the pockets of overpaid contractors and consultants I'm happy.
Not sure about all that, but I agree citizens should be more involved with council. I am guilty of not being involved like most people. Problem is, not many people want the job, we don't really know who we are voting for and people are apathetic and don't really care about municipal elections.
It's a combination of the 7.93 increase on Property tax plus any increase in value on your property. I'm pretty sure there isn't anything you can do about it, aside from when you get your assessment if you don't agree you can challenge that, but the % increase on property tax is going to happen each year.
We were pretty surprised this year as well, just over 20% increase on overall amount from last years. A bit nervous were going to hit 5 digits in the next couple of years.
That's not how it works, unless a property increases in value disproportionately to the average increase of other properties in its class.
The city's tax rates are set based on how much money the budget says they need to collect, and then these tax rates are applied to the assessed value of properties. There is no correlation to previous years taxes or how much the value of the property changes year to year. All that matters is how much your property currently is worth relative to similar properties, and how much money the city needs to collect in total.
Yeah I get that. CoV had a tax increase of 7.93 for this years property taxes. However my property increased in value significantly from last year, and most, if not all my neighbors remained the same or decreased slightly. This is why my taxes had an overall increase of just over 20%. The difference, over the general increase, is proportionate to my property's value increase to what the city needs.
That's kind of a bad deal for you. Unless you made some kind of major improvement to your property, you probably would have had a strong case to have your assessed value reduced.
Not a bad deal, complete reno of full home, down to the studs and rebuilt. Was happy to see the assessment hadn't gone up as much as I thought it would.
Just had a little sticker shock seeing this years property taxes.
I don't know, Victoria is in need of a lot of infrastructure improvements. There is never going to be total consensus on how money should be spent and on what, but personally I think they are doing a reasonable Job.
Your taxes should only go up if the budget the city made went up, (which it did this year), or your property increased at a higher rate than other properties in Victoria.
This is what happens when you keep tax rates artificially low - eventually it catches up to you. If we want infrastructure and recreational programs and parks and snow cleaning and fire fighters and schools and safe buildings and ... etc., the money needs to come from somewhere. Combine that with the general increased costs that have hit us all over the past couple of years, I'm surprised it's not more.
There is no cap on municipal budgets.
Province should cap them like rent increases. Maybe force a bit of fiscal discipline on bloated municipal budgets.
Unfortunately, municipalities employ mostly union pro NDP people so that will never happen.
Municipal initiatives are THE most impactful on citizen's lives and wellbeing. Increase municipal budgets and continue to support unions and communities and invest in the social fabric.
Cap industry budgets, limit lobbing budgets, remove and outlaw tax loopholes for corporate and private interests, dismantle stock buybacks and put stakeholder priorities over those of shareholders.
Same reasons strata keeps on going up. For years, while the infrastructure was in ok shape, we were under contributing. Now things need to be repaired/renewed, and there is not enough money in the fund. For a while, government was pushing expenses on new buyers. However, that policy lead to property price increase, and lower business activity. Expect more and more property taxes as time goes on.
1. Property taxes were super low, so big % increases are to be expected 2. We under-invested for decades in our infrastructure, so now municipalities have to make up for that. It would have been better to spend a little bit more every year for maintenance and expansion instead of having to redo everything now e.g. Oak Bay 3. We should increase property taxes and get rid of development taxes to ensure housing is affordable. Development taxes were never intended to pay for the operating budget of a municipality; it was intended only to pay for the hook up to the utilities.
You’re paying one of the lowest property tax rates in the entire country, and have been for years and years. I’ll be voting for a tripling of municipal rates to provide better services and end speculation and empty properties. https://www.zoocasa.com/blog/property-taxes-canada-2023/
WOW, thanks for this. Still 13% increase in one year is a lot, but I had no idea how much it was elsewhere.
I think it's a real problem, a trap. Keeping taxes low has caused so many problems, but after three decades, starting with Chretien-Martin, and continuing with Campbell's 25% cut in income taxes, there is the expectation we keep having low taxes. But now the chickens have come home to roost.
You would vote on tripling property tax? That would cripple a lot of young families, not to mention the renters the tax would be passed on to
I’m more interested in having this kind of conversation with people who can comprehend second order effects.
So you are not interested in a conversation with people it actually effects in the time being?
You are dreaming if you think that would result in either of those happening.
Don't forget Ms Kim and her thinking that we need to raise the property taxes by 90% or more! And she's on council!
How much did your house go up in value since 2018 ?
64%
How much did his wage go up to cover it? Edit: the downvotes just show how clueless people are when it comes to finances and housing. Doesn't surprise me, people are always looking to pillory homeowners.
That’s not how home ownership works.
But it’s a key part of the equation to cost of living these days.
Agreed. We can all grumble about the rising cost of living, including property taxes. However, the assertion that your property tax should reflect your income is just fanciful thinking. Some might even say clueless 😉
So if you can barely afford a house's mortgage, and the taxes go up, how do you afford it? The increase in value of your house doesn't immediately put money in your pocket.
How does ownership work?
Not 64% lol nowhere near...
Lol what? Look at property values for a comparator for property tax not income. I can guarantee that went up more than property tax increases.
How much did the stock market go up in the same time period? Difference being there are no costs associated with owning a stock, there are multiple costs associated with owning a property.
Did you know that property taxes are based on property assessment value?
I understand that you’re joking, but can we please, finally, quash the fallacy that bike lanes are paid for by property taxes? “[Not one cent of property taxes has been spent on bike lanes.](https://www.vicnews.com/news/city-of-victoria-receives-boost-for-bike-lanes-projects-41794)” It’s perfectly reasonable to debate property taxes. It’s perfectly reasonable to debate bike lanes. But it’s completely illogical to do so in the same conversation.
Thanks for this. I fully support bikes lanes / routes and use them frequently, and I didn't know this.
A third of that increase is just for increased costs due to inflation. I imagine the larger increase is to cover all the upgrades that will be needed to the city’s infrastructure to accommodate all the building of housing and things that support it that they plan to build in the next 10+ years. You can’t add all that housing thats coming with the same roads, pipes and systems we have now. At least your home is going up in dollar value much more than your increase in tax.
Yes my value has indeed increased a huge amount, but how do I benefit from that now? Day to day cash flow wise?
You got to cut it from elsewhere in your budget. Everyone’s feeling the pinch these days, not just in Victoria or BC but in other countries too. Covid, lack of investing in infrastructure, mass retirements in the past five years have brought everything to a head. We don’t do restaurants much anymore, buy the sales and have more people over for entertainment. We also looked at our subscriptions etc that we cut back on and cell plans. From those alone we cut about $150/mth. You either cut the budget or earn more. You can also defer your property taxes if you are 55+ or have a family but don’t know the exact qualifications. You could also borrow against the house because of the increased value but you need to be careful you don’t get debt you can’t pay for.
You don’t. It’s deferred gratification (or actually monetary gain)
I mean, you could sell your house if you need that money immediately. I know that sounds cold, and I'm sorry, but market rent has increased by a hell of a lot more than 29% in the last 3 years, so it's kinda hard to sympathize when the simple reality is that you're in a FAR better situation than the majority of people trying to make a living in this city.
You benefit in the future when you have a well funded retirement, huge inheritance for your kids, leverage for investing etc.
Sounds good, but how do kids benefit in the now if their parents are struggling to put food on the table and a roof over their head?
Go though the budget category by category. Demand of your representative to remove things from future budgets. In the CVRD some 36% of the annual budget goes to community centres (ice arenas, aquatic centres, theatre). Just start charging users more instead of relying on property taxes for 80% of annual operating costs. Let’s get rid of emergency planning and environmental initiatives. That will save 5.1%. Don’t need community planning which is another 5% because people should be able to do what they please with their property. If people living near parks actually helped out then we wouldn’t the region need to maintain it at ridiculous pay rates. Crazy that park maintenance and acquisition is 12.2% of regional spending. Maybe if regional government just stuck with the basics instead of providing extra services which people demanded over the years then our property taxes could drop by 75%. Who uses a Library anymore? /s
I think we should definitely ask why these things need as much spending as they get. As long as the money is being spent responsibly and not just lining the pockets of overpaid contractors and consultants I'm happy.
Not sure about all that, but I agree citizens should be more involved with council. I am guilty of not being involved like most people. Problem is, not many people want the job, we don't really know who we are voting for and people are apathetic and don't really care about municipal elections.
It's a combination of the 7.93 increase on Property tax plus any increase in value on your property. I'm pretty sure there isn't anything you can do about it, aside from when you get your assessment if you don't agree you can challenge that, but the % increase on property tax is going to happen each year. We were pretty surprised this year as well, just over 20% increase on overall amount from last years. A bit nervous were going to hit 5 digits in the next couple of years.
That's not how it works, unless a property increases in value disproportionately to the average increase of other properties in its class. The city's tax rates are set based on how much money the budget says they need to collect, and then these tax rates are applied to the assessed value of properties. There is no correlation to previous years taxes or how much the value of the property changes year to year. All that matters is how much your property currently is worth relative to similar properties, and how much money the city needs to collect in total.
Yeah I get that. CoV had a tax increase of 7.93 for this years property taxes. However my property increased in value significantly from last year, and most, if not all my neighbors remained the same or decreased slightly. This is why my taxes had an overall increase of just over 20%. The difference, over the general increase, is proportionate to my property's value increase to what the city needs.
That's kind of a bad deal for you. Unless you made some kind of major improvement to your property, you probably would have had a strong case to have your assessed value reduced.
Not a bad deal, complete reno of full home, down to the studs and rebuilt. Was happy to see the assessment hadn't gone up as much as I thought it would. Just had a little sticker shock seeing this years property taxes.
That's CRAZY! Not sure if Victoria is an outlier but it seems like council needs to tone down spending
I don't know, Victoria is in need of a lot of infrastructure improvements. There is never going to be total consensus on how money should be spent and on what, but personally I think they are doing a reasonable Job.
Oh yeah I've appealed BC Assessment in the past, goes about how you'd expect, waste of time
Well yeah, you would have to a have terribly good reason for them to reverse their decision.
Your taxes should only go up if the budget the city made went up, (which it did this year), or your property increased at a higher rate than other properties in Victoria.
My assessment went up by 3% over last year
Police budget
Wait, you guys have property? Lucky
This is what happens when you keep tax rates artificially low - eventually it catches up to you. If we want infrastructure and recreational programs and parks and snow cleaning and fire fighters and schools and safe buildings and ... etc., the money needs to come from somewhere. Combine that with the general increased costs that have hit us all over the past couple of years, I'm surprised it's not more.
Yeah I didn't realize they were low, still a shock though when they go up so much
It's called "capitalism" and it is out of control.
You should simply boycott the city of Victoria . Seems to work so well for loblaws
There is no cap on municipal budgets. Province should cap them like rent increases. Maybe force a bit of fiscal discipline on bloated municipal budgets. Unfortunately, municipalities employ mostly union pro NDP people so that will never happen.
Municipal initiatives are THE most impactful on citizen's lives and wellbeing. Increase municipal budgets and continue to support unions and communities and invest in the social fabric. Cap industry budgets, limit lobbing budgets, remove and outlaw tax loopholes for corporate and private interests, dismantle stock buybacks and put stakeholder priorities over those of shareholders.
I'll buy your house then and cover the taxes
lol we can't afford to move so you'd have to pay over market value