Don Cayo is one of the people I point to when blogland gets too critical of the snappily named MSM.
He suggests in this column that the property freeze Gordon Campbell announced at the Liberal convention might help owners of high-end commercial properties and, as a result, hurt homeowners.
If the 2008 assessments had gone ahead, Cayo's analysis suggests, home assessments would have fallen. But demand was still good for high-end office/commercials space on July 1, the nominal assessment date. Their assessments - and likely share of taxes - would have increased.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
there may error!
And what's wrong with reducing the burden on commercial properties? They still contribute the bulk of revenue in cities like Vancouver - residential property owners have been getting a free ride for years. Given that cities need businesses to provide jobs for their citizens, maybe it's time to eliminate the incentive to relocate to cheaper jurisdictions.
To his credit Kevin Krueger, Minister of Small Business and Revenue, has responded to Don Cayo's column... Unfortunately, Krueger totally ignored what Cayo wrote and went off on a political tangent.
Don Cayo reports in today's Vancouver Sun (Friday, November 14, 2008): "Property assessment notices next January will have two numbers -- the value as of July 1, 2007, and as of July 1, 2008 -- and taxpayers can choose whichever is most advantageous as the basis for their 2009 property tax bill.
This option, outlined by Revenue Minister Kevin Krueger in a chat with me Thursday, is a huge step towards making B.C.'s assessment freeze fairer to homeowners and to stave off a potential tsunami of appeals."
You can tell there was some deep thinking by Gordon Campbell before this fiasco was launched, but Krueger gets to wear this failure.
Post a Comment