After the Saint John Transit Building and King Street Clock made news after the 2012 property tax bills came out in NB, it got me looking through the data on Propertize.ca for any other interesting assessments!
I’ll start with the ones listed above. If you have come across anything else, let me know and I’ll add to the list!
1) Saint John Transit (aka Garage Mahal)
If you are a taxpayer in Saint John – this one just makes you want to slam your head into a wall (likely a stone wall covered in colourful artwork). After building an over-the-top (and expensive) transit garage, property tax increases for the new building are now “driving” cuts to transit service. Good thing there is plenty of room for new buses…
Assessment (Year, Amount, Levy)
2012 – $19,882,800.00 – $438,495.27
2011 – $17,155,500.00 – $378,347.40
Assessment increase of 15.90% = $60,147.87 in additional taxes.
2) Saint John – King Street Clock
It’s a nice clock – don’t get me wrong; but, it does seem a little silly that it’s being assessed at all. Description says “VACANT LAND, CLOCK SITE”.
Assessment (Year, Amount, Levy)
2012 – $1,400.00 – $30.87
2011 – $100.00 – $2.21
Assessment increase of 1,300% = $28.66 in additional taxes.
3) Saint John – New Police Station
I’d love for someone to do some validation on this one! Again, as a Saint John taxpayer, I really hope they factored all of this into the existing costs (unlike the Transit building above). The last thing we need is another big empty building that brings service cuts to pay for it. Description says “2 STORY POLICE STATION”.
Assessment (Year, Amount, Levy)
2012 – $8,657,300.00 – $190,928.10
2011 – $1,269,400.00 – $27,995.34
Assessment increase of 582% = $162,932.76 in additional taxes.
4) Penobsquis - Highway 114 - Mine Complex
And you thought your tax bill was bad. This seems to be the largest levy increase that I could find! Description says “LAND & MINE COMPLEX (U/C”.
Assessment (Year, Amount, Levy)
2012 – $104,131,300.00 – $2,594,535.47
2011 – $64,883,700.00 – $1,630,786.92
Assessment increase of 60.49% = $963,748.55 in additional taxes.
5) Dieppe – Operation Centre
Finally, a city besides Saint John had a big municipal tax class levy increases. Description says “OPERATION CENTRE”.
Assessment (Year, Amount, Levy)
2012 – $6,131,100.00 – $135,215.28
2011 – $443,100.00 – $9,772.13
Assessment increase of 1,283.68% = $125,443.15 in additional taxes.
6) Fredericton Costco
Costco leads the way in Fredericton levy increases. Description says “COSTCO & LOT”.
Assessment (Year, Amount, Levy)
2012 – $12,594,200.00 – $546,223.05
2011 – $2,397,800.00 – $103,994.98
Assessment increase of 425.24% = $442,228.07 in additional taxes.
7) Musquash - Highway 1 - Garage / Salt & Sand Shed
This seems to be the largest percentage increase that I could find, crazy eh? Description says “GARAGE & SALT& SAND SHED”.
Assessment (Year, Amount, Levy)
2012 – $678,000.00 – $16,716.09
2011 – $300.00 – $4.96
Assessment increase of 225,900% = $16,711.13 in additional taxes.
8) St. Andrews – Land for Public Purposes
This is the largest municipal tax class percentage assessment increase that I could find. Description says “LAND FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES”.
Assessment (Year, Amount, Levy)
2012 – $11,000.00 – $162.43
2011 – $100.00 – $2.59
Assessment increase of 10,900% = $159.84 in additional taxes.
9) Roachville – Cemetery
This is the largest cemetery percentage assessment increase that I could find. Description says “CEMETERY”. I guess that makes sense.
Assessment (Year, Amount, Levy)
2012 – $4,200.00 – $108.52
2011 – $100.00 – $2.57
Assessment increase of 4,100% = $105.97 in additional taxes.
10) South Branch - Vegetable Stand
This one just cracks me up. It’s the largest “Vegetable Stand” percentage increase that I could find. Not that I was really looking. Description says “VEGETABLE STAND & LOT”.
Assessment (Year, Amount, Levy)
2012 – $5,800.00 – $144.52
2011 – $2,500.00 – $62.84
Assessment increase of 132% = $51.68 in additional taxes.
There was an interesting CBC article today about Social Media playing a bigger role in the upcoming Municipal Election here in Saint John.
