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Grant hike barely makes a difference: City report

While the province has increased the eligibility threshold for the homeowners grant, relieving some residents the stress of not getting the tax break, a new report from the City of Burnaby suggests the measures didn’t go far enough.
assessment
Earlier this month, the province’s finance minister announced changes to the grant that would increase the eligibility threshold by $400,000 to $1.6 million after another year of major increases to property values. But a report from the city’s financial committee finds the number of homeowners in Burnaby eligible for the grant will still drop in 2017, although only slightly.

While the province has increased the eligibility threshold for the homeowners grant, relieving some residents the stress of not getting the tax break, a new report from the City of Burnaby suggests the measures didn’t go far enough.

Earlier this month, the province’s finance minister announced changes to the grant that would increase the eligibility threshold by $400,000 to $1.6 million after another year of major increases to property values.

But a report from the city’s financial committee finds the number of homeowners in Burnaby eligible for the grant will still drop in 2017, although only slightly.

For 2017, 77.8 per cent of residential properties in Burnaby fall below the lower threshold compared to 78.7 per cent in 2016, according to the report.

While the report noted some households will benefit from the threshold increase, it does not provide the numbers for how many homes were able to keep their grants because of the province’s changes.

The target for the provincial government is for 91 per cent of all homes in B.C. to be eligible for the grant. But a closer look at the numbers indicates it’s single-family homeowners getting hit the hardest by the increase in property values. Based on 2017 January roll figures from B.C. Assessment, around 47 per cent of single-family homes have an assessed value of less than the lower threshold. In 2016, the number was 51 per cent.

For Coun. Sav Dhaliwal, the report confirms what city council has been suggesting all along – the grant program is unfair.

“It goes to show while the rest of the province continues to enjoy the same degree of homeowner grant eligibility, Metro Vancouver and particularly Burnaby continues to lose ground every year,” he told the NOW, also pointing out the $200 homeowners in rural and Northern B.C. get back from the carbon tax.

Dhaliwal noted the city has lobbied the province to create a separate Metro Vancouver eligibility threshold, also approaching the issue with the Union of B.C. Municipalities.

So far, there hasn’t been any movement. 

The report noted the province’s increase to the threshold level has “failed” to address the practice of establishing one assessment threshold value for the entire Metro Vancouver area, and the methodology of providing higher thresholds and higher grant amounts for northern and rural areas.

“The homeowner grant, the way it is applied, ... needs a full review,” Dhaliwal said. “It really is a very unfair, outdated system that needs to be looked at very seriously.”

He said the city will try one more time to lobby the province, reaching out to Metro Vancouver, which has also expressed an interest in a review of the grant.

The finance committee report concluded the average residential property in Burnaby (gross value inclusive of new growth) is now $1.087 million as of 2017 January, which is a 32.5 per cent increase over 2016. The provincial increase in the grant lower threshold equates to a 33 per cent increase.

The basic homeowner grant, provided by the province is $570. Seniors, veterans and people with disabilities may qualify for additional grants of $275.