City council voted to finalize lowest budgeted tax increase in over a decade, city says

Photo: Castanet Staff

Kamloops city council voted to finalize the 2021 budget and property tax rate on Tuesday, approving the lowest budgeted tax increase in over a decade.

The property tax increase within the city’s budget is 0.93 per cent, which translates to an additional $20.72 for the average residential household, according to a statement released by the city.

The city said keeping the tax rate low was a key consideration for council due to ongoing economic impacts of the pandemic.

“With the help of grants and COVID-19 relief funding from other levels of government, council was able to achieve this goal while still proceeding with the vast majority of planned and proposed projects and without reducing service levels,” the statement said.

The average residential home in Kamloops is currently valued at $497,000. Property taxes on the average home will be around $3,570 before the application of home owner grants.

According to the city, for each property owner and type of property, property tax rates are calculated using a combination of the council-approved property tax requirement and the assessed property value from BC Assessment.

“The increase or decrease in an individual property’s taxes reflects both the increase in the city’s budget and the change in value of that property as it relates to other properties in the city,” the city statement said.

The city said Kamloops tax rates continue to be competitive with other, similarly sized BC municipalities.

According to the city, the best way to compare Kamloops property tax rates to other cities’ rates is to first find out the average home price in each community, and then compare taxes on those homes.

Cara Dawson, the city’s revenue and taxation manager, said in a statement this is because a home may have a different value in another community.

“A $400,000 home in Kamloops looks very different than a $400,000 home in Vancouver,” Dawson said.

Property tax payments and penalty deadlines will return to normal this year, according to the city. Extensions had been in place last year due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taxes for all classes of property are due on July 2.