Property Taxes

PROPERTY TAX Due dates

Property Tax payments are always due by 4:30 pm, the first business day after the July 1st Canada Day holiday. All payments received after this time will be subject to a 10% penalty. If you are eligible for the Home Owner Grant (see below for Home Owner Grant Information), don't forget that this must also be received by our office before the property tax deadline. You can pay your taxes by cheque, cash, interact at the Village Office or by electronic funds transfer online.

PLEASE NOTE: Dyking Taxes are administered by the Pemberton Valley Dyking District (and not the Village of Pemberton). Please visit www.pvdd.ca or call 604.894.6632 to find out how to submit payment for dyking taxes.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Property Taxes are collected not only for municipal purposes such as administrative operations, special projects and general maintenance, but are also collected on behalf of other government agencies.

New in 2007 was the collection of the Policing Tax, which is now required of all municipalities under a population of 5,000 to collect funds for police enforcement.

For information regarding any of the other agencies, please contact them directly:

Squamish-Lillooet Regional District

Includes the Regional Hospital & Sea to Sky Regional Hospital District.

Phone: 604.894.6371
Fax: 604.894.6526
Email: info@slrd.bc.ca
Web: www.slrd.bc.ca

British Columbia School Tax

Phone: 250.356.0907
Fax: 250.387.2210
Email: MSBROffice@gov.bc.ca
Web: http://www.sbr.gov.bc.ca

British Columbia Assessment Authority

Phone: 250.595.6211
Fax: 250.595.6222
Email: info@bcassessment.ca
Web: www.bcassessment.ca

Municipal Finance Authority

Phone: 250.383.1181
Fax: 250.384.3000
Email: mfa@mfa.bc.ca
Web: www.mfa.bc.ca

HOME OWNER GRANTS

You are eligible to claim a Home Owner's Grant if, when you apply for your Grant, you are a BC resident, own the property and occupy the dwelling as your principal residence. To obtain the Home Owner Grant, you must complete the application form on the back of your tax notice. If you qualify for the additional grant and wish to obtain it, you must tick the box that describes your qualification. If over 65, state your birth date.

You are responsible to complete and file your Home Owner's Grant with the Village of Pemberton, by mail or in person, regardless if your bank or mortgage holder pays your taxes - your bank CANNOT do this for you.

An owner, together with his/her spouse, may claim their HOG for one residence only in any one calendar year. The grant is not receivable unless the dwelling described on the tax notice is the principle residence of the owner, who is a permanent resident of the Province. To avoid a penalty, an owner should apply for a grant prior to the tax due date, even if he/she is not paying taxes that are due at that time.

A grant is considered retroactive if it is received by the Village later than December 31. The appropriate forms for persons applying for retroactive HOG's can be obtained at the Village Office.

If an applicant is unable to apply themself, the application may be made by the applicant's committee or a person appointed in writing as the applicant's attorney.

The Village or Provincial Grant Administrator may require satisfactory, documentary evidence showing eligibility of the applicant or the residence.

A spouse, child, grandchild, father, mother, brother, or sister of a qualifying deceased owner may be eligible for the grant in the year of the owner's death if the residence was the principle residence of the applicant at the time of the death.

A medical certificate is required for a person with a permanent disability if the claim for the additional grant is made by that person or by the spouse or relative of that person (relative being child, grandchild, brother, sister, grandparent, parent, stepparent or person who stands in place of a parent). The required forms are available from the Village.

The Home Owner Grant receivable will be reduced by $5 for every $1000 of residential assessed value in excess of $780,000.

These notes are intended for general guidance only and are subject to the detailed provisions in the Act and regulations.

For further Home Owner Grant Information please visit:

Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Home Owner Grant Program

PROPERTY TAX DEFERMENT PROGRAM

The Property Tax Deferment Program is a Government of BC initiative designed to assist seniors to manage their housing costs. As a British Columbia homeowner 60 years or older, you may be eligible to defer your property taxes as long as you own and live in your home as your principle residence.

Property Tax Deferment is a low interest loan program that assists qualifying BC homeowners in paying the annual property taxes on their homes. Certain conditions must be met in order for a tax deferment application to be approved. For more information please visit www.sbr.gov.bc.ca/rpt

PARCEL TAX REVIEW PANEL, LOCAL COURT OF REVISION

The Parcel Tax Review Panel, Local Court of Revision for the Village of Pemberton sits annually to hear complaints and may review and correct the frontage tax assessment roll. As per Section 205 (1) of the Community Charter, subject to subsection (2), a person may make a complaint to the Parcel Tax Roll Review Panel on one or more of the following grounds:

there is an error or omission respecting a name or address on the parcel tax roll;
there is an error or omission respecting the inclusion of a parcel;
there is an error or omission respecting the taxable area or the taxable frontage of a parcel;
an exemption has been improperly allowed or disallowed.

Complaints other than the above mentioned situations are not permitted, such as taxation, as part of the Parcel Tax Review. The purpose of the review is to add properties to the roll, whereby they may be charged taxes as per the applicable bylaws. Any other complaints should be addressed according to the applicable bylaws, contracts, or other appropriate documents.

The Local Court of Revision may not hear a complaint unless written notice of it has been received by the office of the Collector at least forty-eight (48) hours before the time set for the first sitting of the review panel.

TAX SALES

If applicable, a municipality must recover unpaid property taxes, including any interest and penalties owing on those taxes, by tax sale in accordance with Part 11 [Tax Collection] of the Local Government Act.

General Information

The tax sale is a public auction of properties within a municipality which have outstanding property taxes from 2 years prior to the current year.
The tax sale is held annually on the last Monday of September at 10am at the council chambers in the Municipal Hall of each municipality in BC.
Notice of the time and place of the tax sale and the description of the street address of each property subject to tax sale must be published in at least two issues of a newspaper.
The last publication of the tax sale must be at least 3 days and not more than 10 days before the date of the tax sale.
The lowest amount for which a property may be sold at tax sale is the upset price.
The upset price is the sum of all the property taxes outstanding as at the date of the tax sale, plus all applicable penalties and interest, plus an additional 5% of all taxes, penalties and interest, plus all applicable Land Title Act Fees.
The highest bidder above the upset price must be declared the purchaser.
If there is no bid, or no bid equal to the upset price, the municipality must be declared the purchaser.
The purchaser must immediately pay the amount of the purchase price to the collector.
The collector must give the purchaser a tax certificate and promptly file the notice of tax sale at the Land Title Office.
Within 3 months of the tax sale, the collector must give written notice of the tax sale, including the day the redemption period ends either to the owner(s) of the property by serving the notice or by registered mail.
During the period allowed for redemption, a tax sale property must continue to be assessed and taxed in the owner's name.
A tax sale property may be redeemed from tax sale within 1 year of the date of the tax sale by the owner of the property, an owner of a registered charge against the property or another person on their behalf.

Last Updated on Thursday, July 28, 2011