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2013 NB Property Tax Assessments – Why The Levy’s Don’t Make Sense!

Published on 2013-03-07 by in New Brunswick, New Brunswick Politics, Propertize.ca

TaxBillMany people from across New Brunswick have been using Propertize.ca recently to compare their property tax assessments.

A common question that keeps coming up is around the levy (which is the amount that the property will pay in tax for 2013).

The answer is fairly complicated, so I will try to walk through a few reasons why it will vary on listings.

The 3% Cap is over

First, you have to understand that the last two years saw a cap of 3% on assessment increases (2011 and 2012).  That program is now over.

To avoid your assessment immediately increasing to account for the difference (over the cap) in 2013, the government decided you will never pay tax on that difference (so long as the property remains your primary residence and you do not sell it).  They call this the Assessment Gap (described by SNB below):

Assessment Gap (Permanent Assessment Exemption)

This new “Assessment Gap” serves as a permanent exemption from taxation and represents the difference between the 2012 market value and the 2012 capped value.

If you benefited from the 3% cap in 2011 and 2012 you will be able to keep this savings until your home is sold or ceases to be your principle residence.

Real Property Assessment

This is supposed to be the actual value of your property (what you would expect to list it for if selling) as of January 1st, 2013.

In an simple system, we would simply multiply this by your tax rate (add a few fees) and that would be your levy.

That isn’t the case, to avoid large increases (as the real property assessment for many people have jump by a huge margin), the government decided to create “spike protection” so that the assessed amount that you pay tax on can only increase 10% each year  (described by SNB below):

Assessment Spike Protection

This new mechanism protects homeowners from unexpected assessment spikes.

Any increase greater than 10% will be phased in over time, making assessment growth much more stable and predictable.

New construction and/or major improvements are excluded from this protection.

The challenge that many people are seeing, including my parents, is that the “spike protection” seems to have a lot of wiggle room.  Expect to hear more on this over the next few weeks.

So Why Does Levy Not Make Sense?

When comparing properties, you simply can’t tell what may be going on with their levy unless you see the actual tax bill:

  • Did they benefit from the 3% caps to earn a large Assessment Gap deduction?
  • Did they qualify for the Assessment Spike Protection?
  • Is the property not their primary residence?  They would pay an additional 1.8x tax in this case.
  • Is their municipal tax rate different?
  • What are they actually assessed at for tax purposes (Net Amount for Taxation) on the bill?

Basically, what I am trying to get at is comparing levys doesn’t make any sense as there are too many variables that influence it.

You best best is to determine nearby comparables, look at recent sales, and try to determine if your “Real Property Assessment” is inline with those. If not, you may have a case to appeal.

Where can you do this comparison easily?  Try http://propertize.ca!

 

 
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LNG property assessment

Published on 2013-03-06 by in New Brunswick, News, Propertize.ca, Saint John, Saint John Politics, Videos

Propertize.ca was referenced in a recent story on CBC NB about the LNG Tax Deal:

Saint John’s Canaport LNG facility once again ranks as the province’s priciest real estate, but a controversial eight-year-old property tax deal it cut with the city has kept its bill low.

You can view the video below:

You can see the assessments here:

A story later appeared online to go with the above video that included my Dad’s story:

Saint John’s Canaport LNG facility — New Brunswick’s most expensive piece of property — continues to grow in value, but its taxes are holding steady because of an eight-year-old property tax deal it cut with the city.

The liquid natural gas terminal is New Brunswick’s most valuable piece of assessed property at just under $300 million.

The facility’s value grew $4.3 million this year, on top of a $4.4-million increase last year.

A 25-year property tax deal struck by former Saint John mayor Norm McFarlane for the LNG development froze its bill at $500,000 a year.

The property tax deal caused protests in the city for weeks.

Eight years later the gap between LNG and other facilities continues to grow.

By comparison, the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station now pays $5.8 million in property tax — 12 times more than the LNG terminal — even though its assessment is $66 million lower.

“I’m assuming they’re sending someone down each and every year to determine what the value is and it seems to be going up a few million dollars each and every year,” says Shawn Peterson, who runs the propertize.ca, a website that provides searchable tax assessment information.

Peterson said provincial assessors do keep track of the LNG plant, although, in the end, it’s salt in the wound for a city forbidden from cashing in on its growing property value.

Last month, former Liberal premier Frank McKenna said the LNG plant may yet trigger an economic rebirth for Saint John, well beyond the modest annual contribution it makes to the city’s tax haul.

Homeowners facing hikes

Meanwhile, New Brunswick has lifted a three-per-cent property tax freeze that’s been in place for the last two years.

That has been causing some tax bill jumps, including in Saint John where some residents and other property owners are facing huge increases.

Isaac Miller is a frequent user of the city’s four-year-old skateboard park.

“It’s really great to have a public park that has no costs,” said Miller.

Provincial assessors slapped the park with a $1,051 tax bill — 150 times more than the $7 it was charged the last two years.

Last year, Walter Peterson did energy efficiency renovations on his 30-year-old eastside bungalow, including new windows and vinyl siding.

Peterson was expecting a bump in his tax bill.

The province added $148,000 to his assessment.

“I almost fell off the chair because it went up 122 per cent,” said Peterson

His house, valued at $121,000 each of the last two years, is now assessed at just under $270,000 with a $4,300 property tax bill to match.

The renovations were encouraged by the province and partially paid for by Efficiency NB.

“Well if I get $269,000, it’s sold. Anyone who wants to come with a cheque, it’s gone,” he said.

Peterson has already filed an appeal, one of thousands the province deals with annually.

Related information:

 
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Eroded land among property taxed in 2013 assessment

Published on 2013-03-04 by in New Brunswick, News, Propertize.ca, Technology

Propertize.ca was referenced in a new CBC.ca article about the 2013 NB Property Tax Assessments:

The New Brunswick government begins mailing out over 500,000 property tax bills next week and although most go to homes and businesses, it doesn’t stop there.

New Brunswick’s 2013 Property Tax Assessments includes playgrounds, cell phone towers, public clocks, eroding shorelines and even open stretches of water.

The hills over Saint John’s Bay Shore Beach have been eroding into the Bay of Fundy for decades with several properties worn down to nubs. Saint John’s Duck Cove Community Association owns three pieces of property that mostly eroded into the Bay of Fundy years ago.

Still, the province assessed what’s left to be worth $100 and taxed each for $3.21.

“These building were over there and there was land on the other side of the buildings again, but it has eroded. It eroded away to the point that that land is pretty much gone, but I guess they can tax you for space in the sky,” Danny Dineen, the former president of the association.

In 2012 a new public clock the Irving family donated on Saint John’s King Street made news by getting its own $30 tax bill.

Even a floating dock in the Saint John harbour was billed. This year it was for $68.

Shawn Peterson runs the property tax assessment website propertize.ca and said there isn’t a tree standing in the province that hasn’t been assessed for the upcoming tax mail out.

“I mean you name it. If you’ve ever driven by it on the road it’s got an assessment.”

Peterson said every property in New Brunswick has been valued at some amount.

The province and its municipalities evaluate and tax hundreds of thousands of properties every year worth over $40 billion.

Click here for details on the Duck Cove Lane assessments referenced in the above article!

Related information:

 
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Propertize.ca – Updated with 2013 Property Tax Assessments

Published on 2013-03-01 by in New Brunswick Politics, News, Propertize.ca, SaintJohnShawn.com, Technology

Last night, Service New Brunswick released the 2013 NB Property Tax Assessments!

In less then 24 hours, I was able to process the data – making it available on Propertize.ca.

Users will be happy to know that most properties in New Brunswick now have data available for 2011, 2012, and 2013 – making it even easier to compare your tax assessment.

Another enhancement was made prior to Christmas, which was the redesign of the website using Bootstrap, making  Propertize.ca both mobile and tablet friendly:

Propertize.ca

Propertize.ca

Propertize.ca

If you haven’t checked out Propertize.ca yet, what are you waiting for?

Don’t forget to share this site with your friends and family.

Send me your feedback!

As always – changes are driven by user feedback, suggestions, and even your angry rants – so be sure to tell me what you think!

Leave a comment below, or send me an email.

 
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Propertize.ca Helps Identify Tax Cut Winners

Published on 2012-12-03 by in New Brunswick Politics, News, Propertize.ca

Propertize.ca helped provide property tax assessment data which made it easier to identify the largest tax cut winners in a CBC.ca article from today.

A collection of power plants, shopping malls, industrial sites and commercial properties are the big winners in a multi-million dollar property tax cut introduced by New Brunswick’s cash-strapped provincial government last week, a CBC News review shows.

…

No numbers were given over how the cuts will be distributed, but a CBC review of current tax assessments compiled by the website propertize.ca shows the 10 highest taxed properties will eventually save a combined $3.4 million a year.

NB Power’s Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station will be the single biggest winner with a property tax cut of $759,768, followed by:

  • NB Power’s coal-fired generating plant in Belledune ($411,306)
  • Champlain Mall in Dieppe ($397,579)
  • the new Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (PCS) mine in Penobsquis ($343,633)
  • Irving Oil Ltd.’s refinery in Saint John ($319,546)
  • NB Power’s oil-fired generator at Coleson Cove ($300,251)
  • Regent Mall in Fredericton ($242,360)
  • the old PCS potash mine also in Penobsquis ($238,332)
  • McCallister shopping mall in Saint John ($197,510)
  • Irving Paper’s east Saint John mill ($194,205).

via CBC.ca (written by Robert Jones)

 

 

  • Has Propertize.ca helped you?
  • Is Open Data important to you?

Let me know what you think!

 
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A stitch in time

Published on 2012-11-17 by in New Brunswick, Open Data, Propertize.ca

Check out the latest issue of Progress Magazine for the following article by Lisa Hrabluk titled “A stitch in time” that includes references to my side project Propertize.ca.

Propertize.ca is a tool to easily view and compare property tax assessment information in New Brunswick.

A first step would be for governments to become early adopter clients of innovative products, most of which, like TotalPave, are either lower-cost alternatives or promise increased efficiencies that could lower operational costs. It’s something that Saint John’s Shawn Peterson, an IT consultant at T4G Ltd., advocates on his blog and through his actions. In 2008, while he and his wife were shopping for their first house, Peterson began playing around with the public data available on property assessments. Unhappy with the Government of New Brunswick’s system, he built a better one in his spare time, Propertize.ca. It allows a user to type in any address in the province and find out the assessed value of the properties around it.

“I like creating things that help people; my problem is finding ways to monetize them,” says Peterson, who figures he has made a few hundred dollars with Propertize.ca, all of which he directs into his daughter’s Registered Education Savings Plan. The site is so popular that staff at Service New Brunswick use it. But despite its popularity, it’s a struggle to get the attention of government officials. “Government needs to move from being a barrier to data to a bridge that connects the public and private sectors to the government,” says Peterson. “There are many opportunities for government by opening up access to non-personal data and it costs very little.” Most importantly, it encourages local innovation.

Click here to read the full article!

 
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Property tax cap helps swanky Saint John neighbourhood

Published on 2012-04-03 by in New Brunswick Politics, News, Propertize.ca, Saint John Politics

Propertize.ca was featured in a CBC news story about the New Brunswick Property Tax cap:

 

An Alward government program that capped property tax increases at three per cent for two years is proving to be a windfall in one exclusive Saint John neighbourhood, but at a cost to the city’s coffers.

Four dozen homes in and around Saint John’s upscale Cedar Point Anchorage development escaped tax completely on over $1 million in property value increases this year because of the cap, according to data collected by Shawn Peterson.

The three per cent cap “takes money out of the pockets of the city,” said Peterson, an IT specialist who developed propertize.ca, a New Brunswick property tax and assessment website that tracks changes across the province.

“You can see generally a lot of these [Cedar Point] properties, they’re going up seven to 15 per cent” in assessed value, he said.

…

Although the cap did benefit homeowners in Cedar Point the most, they still pay some of the highest property taxes in the province, noted Peterson. One resident in the upper income neighbourhood pays $36,000 a year on a property worth just under $2 million.

“You can look at it at the other point of view,” said Peterson. “They are people who are paying an insane amount of tax when you look at their bills and they’re the ones that get no better service than anyone else.”

The two-year cap was one of Premier David Alward’s election promises. It expires next spring.

Read the full story on cbc.ca!

 
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Interesting 2012 NB Property Assessments

Published on 2012-03-12 by in Open Data, Propertize.ca

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.

 
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Propertize.ca – Updated with 2012 Property Tax Assessments

Published on 2012-03-03 by in Development, New Brunswick Politics, News, Propertize.ca, Technology

It wasn’t too long ago that I made some major updates to Propertize.ca to get ready for the 2012 property tax year in NB!

Looks like it was well worth it, as I now have both the 2011 and 2012 assessments available, which will help provide even more information for people looking to better understand their assessment and how it compares to other properties!

Propertize.ca

If you haven’t checked out Propertize.ca yet, what are you waiting for?

Don’t forget to share this site with your friends and family!

Send me your feedback!

As always – changes are driven by user feedback, suggestions, and even your angry rants – so be sure to tell me what you think!

Leave a comment below, or send me an email.

 
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Introducing Propertize.ca – Version 4.0!

Published on 2012-01-27 by in Development, Open Data, Propertize.ca, Technology

After many months of work, typically late at night after my daughter falls asleep, Propertize.ca versions 4.0 is now live!

Click the image below to try it out:

As this is a new major release, I thought I would review the significant changes (for the curious folks out there).

1) Simple Searching – No More Taxing Authorities

The number one issue faced my every one living outside of Saint John, Fredericton, and Moncton is “what is my taxing authority?“.

It’s a great question, and the #1 reason why most people can not use the existing government website.  They just don’t know.  What they do know is the place that they live.

Luckily, I’ve found an open data locations file for every property in NB.  Using this file, I can now provide a very simple way for people to search for assessments – just type in the street name!

Tip: Be sure to ONLY enter your street name, such as King or Queen.  If you add the street type (drive, street, avenue) – it will not return any results.  Just remove it and try again.

How simple is this:

After you search, I can now look up matching streets for the entire province, and let you select the correct one:

2) Search Results – Ready for 2012

The search results page is generally the same; but, the columns have been tweaked to support adding the 2012 assessments when they are released in early March.

At that time, I will be able to show both the 2011 and 2012 assessment for every property in New Brunswick and be able to indicate the percentage of change (plus or minus).  I will be heavily promoting the site more once they are released.  In the meantime, you can continue to view the 2011 assessments.

Tip: Entering a civic number will cause your assessment to be highlighted in the list.  This can make it easier to spot your house in large lists!

3) Include Nearby Properties

This feature has been a little flaky in the past; but, now that I have full location data (and accurate co-ordinates), I can actually pull back all assessments within a radius of your property – up to 1km.

Tip: It’s best to specify your civic number for this (so that the search is centered on your location).  If you do not specify this, it will still work; but, the search will center on a random location on your street.

Want to try it out?  Just change the “Include Nearby Properties” dropdown to “Yes”:

Also, be sure to click the link to view the results in Google Maps, as it really shows how accurate the mapping is:

Tip: Entering your civic address will also cause your marker to be highlighted in a different color (making it easier to see in the map):

4) Search ANYTIME!

One frustrating “feature” of the government website is that it goes down for maintenance every night between midnight and 5am or so.

For all of you out there who simply must look up property tax assessments in the early hours – you will be glad to know you can do it on my site!

Going Forward

As I mentioned earlier, the 2012 assessment information will be my main focus once it’s released.

In addition to that, I’m looking to add more analytics –  perhaps some analysis on assessments by locations, county, etc.  There may be some fun trends to be discovered!

If you have ideas/suggestions, be sure to let me know.

Leave your feedback

As always – many of these changes are driven by user feedback, suggestions, and even your angry rants – so be sure to tell me what you think!

Leave a comment below, or send me an email.

 
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