Property taxes have risen at more than double the rate of inflation in the B.C. cities that are growing the most rapidly. Read More
Douglas Todd: In Langford, the second-fastest growing city in Canada, property taxes jumped a staggering 38 per cent in three years. Tax hikes are almost as bad in New Westminster, Vancouver and Maple Ridge, etc.
Douglas Todd: In Langford, the second-fastest growing city in Canada, property taxes jumped a staggering 38 per cent in three years. Tax hikes are almost as bad in New Westminster, Vancouver and Maple Ridge, etc.
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Property taxes have risen at more than double the rate of inflation in the B.C. cities that are growing the most rapidly.
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In the Victoria suburb of Langford, which is the second-fastest growing municipality in Canada, property taxes have jumped a staggering 38 per cent in three years.
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In New Westminster, which recently became the second-densest city in the country, property taxes have skyrocketed 23 per cent over the same period.
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The B.C. cities of Vancouver, Maple Ridge, Nanaimo, and North Vancouver, and many others, which are all among the fastest-growing in Canada, have also been compelled to raise property taxes by 18 to 24 per cent in the past three years.
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Those tax hikes are well above the average rate of inflation of nine per cent in B.C. over the same period.
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While tax specialists say there isn’t always a direct correlation between rising populations and rising property taxes, these B.C. cities and many more contradict claims made by some politicians that property taxes inevitably go down as population density increases and infrastructure costs are spread among more property owners.
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The dramatic property tax jumps in these swelling cities link to the continuing debate about whether “growth should pay for growth.” That catchphrase captures the conventional idea that the developers who profit from building more apartments and towers should be the main providers of the money to pay for the expanded sewers, police, parks and social services needed to accommodate new residents.
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Taxes are complicated. And so are the implications of more people moving into cities. But one general trend that emerges from these numbers is that the developers erecting apartment blocks and other homes throughout B.C. are in many cases no longer covering the costs of providing infrastructure and services for newcomers.
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This places pressure on B.C. mayors and councillors to raise residential property taxes. And that makes them vulnerable to aggravated voters.
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The dynamic illustrates why civic politicians have traditionally striven so hard to woo new businesses to their municipalities, say University of B.C. housing specialists Tom Davidoff and Patrick Condon.
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“Generally, it is felt that adding residential homes does not pay for itself in new taxes, but new commercial and industrial development does,” said Condon, author of Broken City: Land Speculation, Inequality and Urban Crisis.
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Historically, North American cities have competed for new companies to move in because they will often pay hefty property taxes — but don’t usually come with new residents who need services, said Davidoff, director of UBC’s centre for urban economics.