Owners of homes valued up
to $780,000 to get relief as a result
Homeowners
who have watched their property assessments soar can look forward to a new threshold
on homeowner grants.
The province is introducing amendments in February
to raise the full homeowner grant threshold to $780,000 in assessed property value,
up from the current $685,000.
The Ministry of Finance estimates about 27,000 people
across B.C. could benefit from the threshold increase. Of those, the vast majority
-- 23,500 -- are in the Lower Mainland or Fraser Valley.
Under the new threshold, more than 95 per cent of B.C.
homeowners will be eligible for the full homeowner grant.
The basic grant gives a homeowner a reduction of up
to $470 in property taxes. An additional grant of $275 is available for those
65 and over, or who are disabled, or eligible for certain war-veteran allowances.
The change responds to yet another rise in property
assessments in B.C.
Province-wide, assessments have gone up 16 per cent.
This is the third year in a row that the government
has raised the threshold, starting with moving it from $525,000 to $585,000 in
2004.
B.C.'s Finance Minister Carole Taylor said: "With the
homeowners grant, we really try particularly to get to those families that are
perhaps under a bit of stress meeting the housing prices and needs of their families.
"It really is difficult for a lot of seniors and families
who want to stay in their homes, but find that with these increased prices and
increase taxes it's really a chore to do that. So the homeowners grant is intended
to help people stay in their homes."
Retiree Cam Young, 69, of Saanich, said Tuesday, "Well,
God bless," when he heard the news.
His home has been assessed at more than $790,000 --
up $130,000 from the previous year-- and a little over the planned new threshold.
Young checked the value of 10 neighbours' homes to find that half had been pushed
past the current $685,000 threshold.
Young noted the provincial government was quick to
respond to a similar situation last year -- just before the election -- by raising
the grant threshold.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
