Taxes climb for Spallumcheen residents

By Tyler OlsenMorning Star Staff May 11 2007 http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/

Skyrocketing assessment values will force Spallumcheen single family homeowners to shoulder the brunt of a tax increase, according to the township’s financial plan, released Monday. While the municipality will collect just over two per cent more tax revenue than it did last year, because the value of single-family dwellings has risen much quicker than other properties in the township, homeowners will see a substantial rise in their taxes. “This budget again is something we can be proud of, I feel, because you go to neighbouring communities, this is probably one of the most frugal, most well-thought-out financial plans you can compare in the surrounding region,” Mayor Will Hansma told council, emphasizing the less-than-inflation increase in total tax revenues.

A single family homeowner who saw their dwelling rise the township average of 29 per cent, will pay around seven per cent more in tax plus a new rural police tax the township collects for the province. That, despite the actual tax rate for residences dropping 16 per cent the last year. For homeowners who saw the value of their homes rise in the neighbourhood of 25 per cent, the increase will cost them around $50 in municipal taxes. Homeowners who saw a more modest rise in their assessments will see their taxes reflect that circumstance and for those whom houses remained the same will see a drop in taxes. “It’s just because of the assessments,” said Hansma. “We’re charging less per $1,000 than we did last year.”

Spallumcheen tax rates are dialed into a fixed ratio which does not shift from year to year. But when the property value of residential increases disproportionately for residential as compared to other zones, then those property owners see the largest tax increase. With the population of Spallumcheen dropping below 5,000, the township must no longer pay for policing out of its own coffers but will now collect a police tax for the province. An owner of a $200,000 home will have to pay a police tax of $51. That is less than the township previously spent on policing cost. But the municipality is also putting money aside to prepare for surpassing the 5,000 mark again, at which point it would need to pay the full cost of policing itself. “There was some savings to the people for policing but not very much because they’re still paying 50 per cent (of the cost),” said Hansma