BC Property Taxes is the starting point of the research: how your BC Assessment becomes your property tax bill, and why a wrong value means you pay the wrong share.
How does my BC Assessment affect my property taxes?
Your property tax bill is your assessed value multiplied by the tax rates for your area. BC Assessment sets the value. Your municipality or regional district, the Province for school tax, and other taxing authorities set the rates. The rates are set to raise what each community needs, and that total is shared across every property on the assessment roll according to its value.
That is why your assessment matters even when the rate does not change. If your home is assessed higher than it should be, compared with homes like it, you carry more of your community's tax than your share. If it is assessed lower, someone else carries part of yours. My Vancouver Island Tax Roll Audit 2026 checked every single family home sold on Vancouver Island in 2025, 7,079 of them, and found BC Assessment's value matched the sale price on only 63.1
July 1
the date your value is set, the year before your tax year
63
of 7,079 Vancouver Island home sales assessed at exactly what they sold for1
2,805
homes assessed above what they sold for, paying more than their share
$500
approximately, in property tax for every $100,000 of value, the conservative estimate I use2
From value to bill
How your property tax is worked out
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July 1
BC Assessment values your home
BC Assessment values every property in the province at once, using mass appraisal. It looks at what comparable homes sold for around July 1 and applies that to each home based on what it has on file, such as size, age, condition, location, view and waterfront.3
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Early January
The roll goes to your local government
Your assessment notice arrives, and BC Assessment gives the assessment roll, the list of every property and its value, to your local government and the other taxing authorities.3
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Spring
Tax rates are set to raise the budget
Each taxing authority works out what it needs to raise and sets a rate on the total assessed value in its area. The rate is set to fit the budget, so when every value goes up together, the rate comes down.
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Summer
Your bill: your value times the rates
Your tax bill applies those rates to your assessed value. If your value is wrong, every rate on your bill is applied to the wrong number.
Key dates
When to check your assessment for 2027 property taxes
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December 31, 2026
Your 2027 value shows up online
In my experience, the new assessment shows up online on the last business day of December, and the notice follows in the mail in early January. The value is your property's market value as of July 1, 2026, and it is the base for your 2027 property tax.3
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By February 1, 2027
File with the Review Panel
The deadline is normally January 31, but in 2027 that falls on a Sunday, so it moves to the next business day, the same way it moved to February 2 in 2026.4 Miss it and your value stands for the year.
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By April 30, 2027
Appeal to the Appeal Board
If the Review Panel does not fix your value, the Property Assessment Appeal Board is an independent tribunal that hears your appeal as a brand new hearing.3 The full process is on Get Help.
What the homeowners said
A homeowner on how far over his value was.
Andy Ross said this at his Appeal Management Conference with BC Assessment. At approximately $500 in property tax for every $100,000 of value, $300,000 to $400,000 over is approximately $1,500 to $2,000 a year.2 Across 4 appeals on his home and his lot, from 2023 to 2025, his assessments came down $815,500.5
"I really think that, yeah, we were probably three or four hundred thousand dollars over."
Andy Ross, Youbou
Reduced $815,500 over 4 appeals, saving approximately $4,078 in property tax.
Appeal Nos. 2023-04-00106, 2023-04-00107, 2024-04-00073, 2024-04-00074, 2025-04-00064
What the news reported
In 2026, another Lake Cowichan value came back up approximately 18%. Here is what I told the paper.
Cowichan Valley Citizen, February 26, 2026
Lake Cowichan property owner challenges renewed 18 per cent assessment increase
"Against that backdrop, an 18 percent increase warrants explanation."
Jason Anson, quoted in the Cowichan Valley Citizen, February 26, 2026.6
The backdrop was BC Assessment's own market summaries for the Cowichan area, which showed yearly changes of 0% to approximately 2.3%. The home's 2025 value had already been lowered $340,000, 26%, from $1,305,000 to $965,000, after 2 levels of appeal. For 2026 it came back at $1,140,000, up $175,000.
Every story about these appeals, and everywhere it ran, is on News Features.
Why it matters
Every dollar of value missing from one property is paid by everyone else.
What the 2026 Vancouver Island audit found
7,079
single family home sales in 2025, checked one by one
4,211
assessed below what they sold for, 59%
2,805
assessed above what they sold for
Your tax rate is set to raise what your community needs. When a home is under assessed, the rate everyone pays goes up to cover it. When yours is over assessed, you pay part of someone else's bill. A retired BC Assessment senior appraiser, Derek Holloway, says large commercial and industrial properties are under assessed too, which shifts more of the burden onto homeowners.7 You can see how BC Assessment did in your own area on the Vancouver Island Tax Roll Audit 2026, and the rest of the evidence on The Research.
What the Ministry of Finance said
The Minister was given one line about fairness, in every briefing.
"BC Assessment strives to provide property owners with annual property assessments that are accurate and fair."
Advice to the Minister of Finance, Confidential Issue Note, "2023 Youbou Property Assessments," September 15, 2023, the first line of the recommended response. Released to me under freedom of information.8
What the 2026 tax roll showed
63 of 7,079
Vancouver Island home sales assessed at the sale price, less than 1%
4,211
assessed below what they sold for, 59%
2,805
assessed above what they sold for, 40%
Accurate and fair is the right goal, because a fair share of property tax depends on it. My Vancouver Island Tax Roll Audit 2026 is how anyone can check how close the roll came.1
What BC Assessment said
BC Assessment's own notice says what matters is how your value moved against your area.
"An increase in your assessment does not necessarily mean an increase in your property taxes. Property tax changes are generally impacted by your assessment's change relative to your taxing jurisdiction's average assessment change for your property class."
BC Assessment, on the 2023 assessment notice for a Youbou waterfront home, under "Your assessment relative to your property taxes." Released to me under freedom of information.9
That is the point of this page. If your value rises faster than your area's average, your share of the tax rises with it, even when the rate comes down. In 2023, BC Assessment raised Youbou waterfront approximately 28%.10 The Appeal Board later lowered 25 of the 28 Youbou Appeal Group assessments it decided, 89%. The full story is on The Youbou Appeal Group.2
An example
2 identical homes, 2 different tax bills
Here are 2 homes that would each sell for $800,000. BC Assessment gets one 10% low and the other 10% high. They pay the same tax rate, so the difference lands on the owner of the second home.
| Home A | Home B | |
|---|---|---|
| What it would sell for | $800,000 | $800,000 |
| BC Assessment value | $720,000 | $880,000 |
| Assessment to sale ratio | 90% | 110% |
| Property tax at approximately $500 per $100,000 | $3,600 | $4,400 |
| Difference every year | $800 more |
This is an example to show the math, not a real pair of homes. Both owners live in the same kind of house, but the owner of Home B pays $800 more every year until the value is corrected, and the owner of Home A has no reason to appeal. In my audit, 4,211 homes were assessed below what they sold for and 2,805 above.1
What the BC Assessment whistleblower said
The whistleblower said a skewed roll moves tax from one group of homes to another.
"The higher above 1 it means regress it means more tax dollars being paid by the lower end homes on assessed values." ... "And that is an example of the wealthy getting a break because BC Assessment isn't doing their jobs."
The BC Assessment whistleblower, recorded telephone call, May 2023.11
He was describing a measure of roll quality that compares how lower priced and higher priced homes are assessed against what they sell for. When it is off, one group carries more of the tax than it should. The tax rate does not know which home is which. In my view, it is the example above, across a whole community.
Common questions
BC property taxes and your assessment
Does a higher BC Assessment mean higher property taxes?
Not by itself. Tax rates are set to raise a budget, so if every home in your area goes up by the same amount, the rate comes down to match. What moves your share is how your value changed compared with others in your area. If yours went up more than theirs, or is set too high to begin with, you pay more than your share.
How much tax does a lower assessment save?
Yes. A lower value means the same rates are applied to a smaller number. When an appeal lowers your value after you have paid, the difference comes back as a refund or credit. On my appeal record, I estimate it conservatively at $500 for every $100,000 of reduction, and actual refunds were often higher.2
Who sets my property tax rate?
Your municipality or regional district sets its rate, the Province sets the school tax rate, and other taxing authorities set theirs. All of them apply their rates to the value BC Assessment gives them. None of them check it.
Can I fight my property tax bill instead of my assessment?
You appeal your assessed value, not your tax bill. The value is what you can change, through the Review Panel and then the Appeal Board, and your tax follows it. If your value is wrong, file by the deadline and bring evidence from real sales.
Who is really here to help
Your tax bill is only as right as your assessment
No office checks your value before the tax rates are applied to it. If it looks wrong, it is up to you to find the error and prove it with real sales. Every homeowner I personally helped who saw their appeal through won a reduction, and every result is on my BC Assessment Appeal Record. If you want me in your corner, here is how I can help with your appeal.
BC Assessment Check
A 1 hour one on one call where I go through the sold comparables in your neighbourhood with you and I tell you plainly whether you have an appeal.
Book a BC Assessment CheckProperty record cards
My free step by step guide to getting the record BC Assessment keeps on your home, including the internal notes most homeowners never knew existed.
Get Your Property Record CardStraight answers
The questions homeowners ask most, answered from the record, from how your home is valued to what happens at a hearing.
Get Straight AnswersA note on the record
The 2026 tax roll was set under the previous government. The new government can test the next one the same way.
What a new government could do: Report, for each community, how many homes are assessed within 5% of what they sold for, so councils and homeowners can see who carries more than their share.
Your tax bill starts with your assessment. Is yours right?
Start with your address and see how your BC Assessment compares to what homes like yours actually sold for.
Check My PropertySources
- My Vancouver Island Tax Roll Audit 2026: 7,079 arm's length single family sales in 2025 compared with their 2026 assessed values, across 7 regional districts and 73 tax jurisdictions.
- My BC Assessment Appeal Record: estimated property tax refund or credit, worked out conservatively at $500 for every $100,000 of reduction. Actual refunds depend on each local tax rate and were often higher.
- BC Assessment, key dates: valuation date July 1, notices December 31, complaint deadline January 31, Review Panels February 1 to March 15, decisions by April 7, Appeal Board deadline April 30.
- BC Assessment, Vancouver Island 2026 Property Assessments Announced, January 2, 2026. The 2026 deadline was February 2 because January 31 fell on a Saturday.
- Andy Ross, video "three or four hundred thousand dollars over," https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Nkz19IkD4; Property Assessment Appeal Board, Appeal Nos. 2023-04-00106, 2023-04-00107, 2024-04-00073, 2024-04-00074 and 2025-04-00064, and the 2024 Property Assessment Review Panel.
- Cowichan Valley Citizen, Robert Barron, "Lake Cowichan property owner challenges renewed 18 per cent assessment increase," February 26, 2026. Read the article
- Cowichan Valley Citizen, August 8, 2024, "Retired appraiser waging fight against 'underassessed' commercial, industrial properties," quoting Derek Holloway.
- Ministry of Finance, FOI file FIN-2025-52395, page 910: Advice to Minister, Confidential Issue Note, "2023 Youbou Property Assessments," September 15, 2023.
- BC Assessment, FOI file 2025-10, pages 266 to 267: 2023 assessment notice for a Youbou waterfront home.
- Lake Cowichan Gazette, January 2023, reporting BC Assessment's 2023 values for Youbou waterfront, up 28%.
- The BC Assessment whistleblower, recorded telephone call with me, May 2023; transcript sent to the Property Assessment Appeal Board on May 11, 2023, and released in Ministry of Finance FOI file FIN-2025-52395.
My Record: January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2026
$22.6M+
cut from the values BC Assessment put on homeowners' properties
My 3 largest reductions for a homeowner: $2,063,000, $1,954,000 and $1,438,000
$110K+
in estimated property tax refunds and credits for homeowners
My 3 largest estimated refunds or credits for a homeowner: $10,315, $9,770 and $7,190
40
homeowners I helped appeal their BC Assessment
100% won a reduction. The average homeowner had approximately $566,000 taken off their value and an estimated $2,800 back in property tax.
63
appeals won, out of the 65 those homeowners took to a decision
97% won, at BC Assessment, the Review Panel and the Appeal Board
91%
of written Appeal Board decisions, made by an independent adjudicator, lowered the value
30 of the 33 that went that far
7,079
Vancouver Island home sales I checked against their BC Assessment
Less than 1% were assessed at what they sold for, and 40% were assessed above it
32
news stories about the appeals I helped with
Run more than 400 times in 68 news outlets across BC
23
freedom of information requests to BC Assessment for its records
$11,047.06 in fees BC Assessment estimated to release them. I paid $30 in total, after fee waiver requests on public interest and hardship grounds.
Are You Overassessed?
When BC Assessment gets your home's value wrong, I prove what it is actually worth using real sales of similar homes, so you don't pay more property tax than your fair share.
Jason Anson
I am not a lawyer or an appraiser, and nothing on this site should be considered legal or tax advice. When I help you, you are still the appellant and you file your own appeal. Every result depends on the evidence for that property, and the decision belongs to the Property Assessment Review Panel or the Property Assessment Appeal Board, not to me. My past results do not predict yours, and I cannot guarantee any outcome.
Helping homeowners with property assessment appeals is not a licensed activity in the province of British Columbia. It is not regulated by the BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) or the Real Estate Services Act, and it is not considered a real estate service.
I am also a licensed real estate agent with eXp Realty. That work gives me my experience in valuation and market movement, which is the evidence of market value the Review Panel and the Appeal Board weigh. This site and my appeal work are completely separate from eXp Realty. They are not affiliated with, endorsed by or provided through my brokerage, and the views here are my own, not eXp Realty's.
What I write about BC Assessment, the Property Assessment Review Panel, the Property Assessment Appeal Board, the Minister and Ministry of Finance, and the other public offices on this site is my own opinion, and I consider it fair comment on a matter of public interest. My opinions are my honest views, marked as my view, and based on facts anyone can check: Appeal Board decisions, public records and records released under freedom of information. Quotes from documents and news stories are the words of the people quoted. If anything here is inaccurate, let me know and I will correct it.