More than $51 million in additional school tax will be coming from owners of high-end properties on the North Shore this year, mostly from West Vancouver.
Almost 39 per cent of all residential property owners in West Vancouver will be dinged with the additional school tax on homes assessed at more than $3 million dollars this year – a 12 per cent increase over 2022.
The additional school tax, which the NDP brought into effect in 2019, adds a 0.2 per cent tax on the value of properties assessed between $3 million and $4 million and 0.4 per cent for anything above $4 million. The tax was intended to cool the high end of the property market and raise money to provide affordable housing.
According to West Vancouver finance department staff, there are 3,254 properties in the $3-$4 million range this year whose owners will see an average of $905 of additional school tax on their property tax bills. An expected $2.9 million in additional school tax will be owing from that subset of owners. There are another 4,257 properties valued at more than $4 million that will face the higher rate.
In total, the West Van staff estimate the total amount of additional school tax that will come from its property owners in 2023 is $46.25 million.
According to BC Assessment, the average assessed value for a single-family home in 2022 was $3.11 million, four per cent higher than in 2021. Condos and townhouses were up seven per cent to a $1.42 million average
District of North Vancouver
East of the Capilano River, there are 1,914 residential properties that will be subject to the additional tax or 5.9 per cent of all properties in the District of North Vancouver. That’s up from 4.6 per cent in 2022 when 1,505 property owners were affected. DNV finance staff estimate the total amount of additional school tax to be raised from their tax base in 2023 will be just over $4 million, up from $3.2 million last year.
In 2022, detached homes in the district had an average assessment of just over $2 million while multi-family homes came in at $929,000, up six and 11 per cent respectively.
City of North Vancouver
Because of lower assessments, city residents are always the least likely on the North Shore to be seeing additional school tax on their bills. In 2023, just 355 properties are over the $3-million mark – two per cent overall. The 329 properties between $3 and $4 million will be expected to pay $132,520 between them while the 26 lots valued at more than $4 million will be expected to pay an additional $658,944.
According to BC Assessment, single-family homes were up 10 per cent in the last year for an average price of $1.95 million. Condos, meanwhile, were up 10 per cent, with the average value pegged at $840,000.
