The Recordings are the hearings, inspections and conversations behind my appeal work and research, so you can hear what happened for yourself instead of taking anyone's word for it.
What do the recordings show?
What the written record leaves out. A written decision tells you the result. A recording tells you how the room felt, who spoke, what was asked and what was never answered. At the Youbou Appeal Group's Review Panel hearing on February 27, 2023, the panel said it was being overwhelmed with information and confirmed all 23 assessments.1 The Appeal Board later lowered 22 of the 25 it decided.2 The recording is how you know what happened in between.
I recorded BC Assessment's home inspections when its staff came to Youbou in June 2023. The homeowner at the heart of this story recorded every one of his hearings and gave the recordings to me before he passed away in 2025. His appeals are all settled. A person inside BC Assessment explained, on a recorded call, how values are set.3
What is here
The recordings, and what each one shows
February 27, 2023
The Youbou Appeal Group's Review Panel hearing
What happened
23 complaints heard together. The panel chair spoke of the homeowners "overwhelming the panel with information," and the panel confirmed every assessment.1
Why it matters
It sent every appeal on to the Appeal Board, where 22 of the 25 decided were lowered. More on The Story.
June 2023
BC Assessment's home inspections in Youbou
What happened
BC Assessment staff came to inspect more than 100 homes, including the homes under appeal. I recorded the inspections.
Why it matters
What BC Assessment saw at each home, and what it later put in its written submissions, can be checked against each other.
2023 to 2025
One homeowner's hearings
What happened
The homeowner at the heart of this story recorded every one of his hearings and gave the recordings to me before he passed away in 2025. His appeals are all settled.
Why it matters
It is a full record of one homeowner's appeals from start to finish, in his own voice.
May 2023
The BC Assessment whistleblower
What happened
While BC Assessment was switching to a new computer system, a person inside it told me how values are set.3
Why it matters
His account, in his own words, of how values are set and who checks them. More on The Whistleblower Files.
What the homeowners said
A homeowner on walking into the room alone.
Andy Ross was one of the Youbou waterfront homeowners. Some of his hearings he went into on his own, one homeowner across the table from BC Assessment. In this clip, he describes what that was like. Across 4 appeals on his home and his lot, from 2023 to 2025, his assessments came down $815,500.4
"...how you can't talk to somebody who is totally in control because we are BC Assessment and you're just a homeowner."
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
Other Youbou homeowners had their Review Panel hearing by phone. Here is what they told the paper.
Cowichan Valley Citizen, May 19, 2023
Youbou property owners frustrated with appeal process
"There were multiple issues with that phone call." ... "At that meeting, the panel would not take any value off the buildings, even though we made a very good case."
Wendy and Byron Webb, Youbou homeowners, quoted in the Cowichan Valley Citizen, May 19, 2023, on their Review Panel hearing.5
Their 2 small A frame cabins, built by family in 1972, were assessed at $373,000. The panel took 10% off the land and nothing off the buildings. Without a recording, a hearing like theirs survives only in the owners' memory and a decision notice.
Every story about these appeals, and everywhere it ran, is on News Features.
What the Ministry of Finance said
The hearing lasted 1.5 hours. Afterwards, the Ministry told a Youbou homeowner the Review Panel would learn from it.
"The PARP administration office has committed to review its hearing process and training of Panels to learn from this experience and improve the process in the coming years."
The Office of the Minister of Finance, in a reply to a Youbou homeowner, May 17, 2023. PARP is the Review Panel. Released to me under freedom of information.6
The Youbou Appeal Group, from the hearing room to the Appeal Board
23
assessments confirmed at the Review Panel on February 27, 2023, without hearing the evidence
22 of 25
lowered by the Appeal Board, plus 3 settled with BC Assessment
1.5 hours
how long the Review Panel hearing lasted
It took 1 year for the Appeal Board to fix what that hearing confirmed. Without the recording, the only account of it would be the decision notices. With it, anyone can hear how the homeowners' evidence was received. In my view, that is why every homeowner should keep a record of every step of their appeal. Every result is on my BC Assessment Appeal Record.2
What BC Assessment said
BC Assessment's own notes on the hearing put the blame on my evidence.
"The agent uploaded his defense information, 83 pages, <10 minutes before the first hearing"
BC Assessment briefing notes on the Youbou appeals, sent to the Vancouver Island Assessor, May 2, 2023. Released to me under freedom of information.7
The same notes say BC Assessment uploaded its own evidence 2 days before the hearing. The recording lets anyone hear what the panel did with both.
What this means for you: upload your evidence early, keep a copy of exactly what you sent and when, and keep your own record of the hearing.
What the BC Assessment whistleblower said
The whistleblower said BC Assessment wanted the hearings short.
"So BC Assessment doesn't want to go down those rabbit holes with you guys because it is a lot of information and they have convinced the Property Assessment Review Panel to give you guys a very short window to present you information..."
The BC Assessment whistleblower, recorded telephone call, May 2023.3
Common questions
Recordings and your appeal
Is my Review Panel hearing recorded?
No. Ask at the start of your hearing whether you can record it, and keep your own notes either way: who was there, what was asked and what was said about your evidence. I have heard recordings online where homeowners told the Review Panel they wanted to record their hearing, and the panel let them.
Should I keep a record of my appeal?
Yes. Keep every email with BC Assessment and the Review Panel, write down the date and content of every call, and save every document you send and receive.
What happens at the Appeal Board?
The Appeal Board hears your appeal as a brand new hearing, so nothing from the Review Panel carries over. Many appeals there are decided on written submissions. How to prepare is on The Appeal Board.
Who is really here to help
Go into your hearing prepared
The recordings show what happens when a hearing does not go the way the evidence says it should. The best protection is to walk in with real sales, a clear argument and a record of every step. Every homeowner I personally helped who saw their appeal through won a reduction. 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 CheckThe Review Panel
How the Review Panel hearing works, what the panel reads and how to prepare for your hearing.
Prepare for the Review PanelThe Appeal Board
How to take your appeal to the independent tribunal that decided 33 of my appeals and reduced the assessment in 30 (91%).
Prepare for the Appeal BoardA note on the record
These recordings were made between 2023 and 2026, under the previous government. The new government can hear exactly what happened.
What a new government could do: Record Review Panel hearings, and give group appeals enough time to be heard on the evidence.
Hear what happened. Then check what happened to your value.
Start with your address and see how your BC Assessment compares to what homes like yours actually sold for.
Check My PropertySources
- Property Assessment Review Panel, group hearing for the Youbou waterfront complaints, February 27, 2023, recording, the panel chair on "overwhelming the panel with information".
- My BC Assessment Appeal Record: Property Assessment Appeal Board decisions on my 2023 appeals, files 2023-04-00105 to 2023-04-00133.
- The BC Assessment whistleblower, recorded telephone call, May 2023; BC Assessment, FOI file 2025-10, pages 227 to 228 (May 11, 2023).
- Andy Ross, video "without Jason," https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8iNFYmCsqc; 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, "Youbou property owners frustrated with appeal process," May 19, 2023; a copy is saved in my evidence files.
- Ministry of Finance, FOI file FIN-2025-52395, pages 289 to 291: reply from the Office of the Minister of Finance to a Youbou homeowner, reference 501074, May 17, 2023.
- BC Assessment, FOI file 2025-10, pages 713 to 714: briefing notes on the Youbou appeals attached to an email to the Vancouver Island Assessor, May 2, 2023.
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.