Appealing your Property Assessment Notice

January 16, 2015

Appealing your Property Assessment Notice

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Every year, BC Assessment prepares an “Assessment Roll” as of December 31, and mails out assessment notices early in the calendar year.  If you own property in BC, chances are you’ve already received your Property Assessment Notice for 2015.  Chances are also pretty good that your property’s assessed is higher this year than it was last year.

For whatever reason, you may think the assessed value of your property is incorrect.  In these situations, BC Assessment provides for a complaint or appeal process – you can ask the Property Assessment Review Panel to review your assessment.  The process involves a hearing, usually scheduled for about 30 minutes in total, where you will have between 5 and 8 minutes to explain why you think BC Assessment has made an error.

For 2015, The deadline to file a Notice of Complaint (Appeal) to the Property Assessment Review Panel is Monday, February 2, at 11:59 p.m.

If you are considering filing a complaint, the BC Assessment website provides some useful information in relation to the process and how the Property Assessment Review Panel works.  There is a web page called “Appealing your Assessment“, where you can find the Notice of Complaint form as well as the appropriate BC Assessment contact information.  That page also has videos (!) of older Review Panel hearings, so that you can get a better sense of what to expect.

The BC Assessment website also has an “Appeal Guide” which provides some additional information in relation to the appeal process and hearings before the Review Panel.

If you are considering filing a complaint, it may also be worthwhile to speak to an independent appraiser or appraisal firm in relation to concerns.  You may also want to obtain legal advice specific to your situation.

By Salim Hirji Civil Litigation Small Business Share:
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Welcome to the Hirji Law Corporation Blog – commentary and information about business disputes and the litigation process.

I will be blogging about dispute resolution, negotiation, recent court decisions, and the impact that disputes can have on your business.

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