With a dynamic 12 months behind us, and anticipation of more to come, one thing remains certain in our lives, paying taxes. With BC Assessment sending its updated assessed values to property owners around the province this month, Colliers is pleased to be able to provide insight on the trends and impacts that property owners need to be aware of in advance of deadlines for appeal. A confusing topic for most, our focus will be on the changes recorded by BC Assessment in the Lower Mainland within the two major property classes impacting industrial, office, and retail properties (Classes 5 and 6). For clarity, Class 5 – Light Industrial covers all properties which are used or held for the purpose of extracting, processing, manufacturing or transporting products or are used for the storage of products as ancillary to or in conjunction with the extracting, processing, manufacturing or transporting of products as previously mentioned. This excludes properties that are held for the purposes of railway transportation, those properties that are used as an outlet for the sale of a finished product to a purchaser, or those properties that are used for food or non-alcoholic beverage processing, manufacture, or storage. Class 6 - Business and Other covers all properties who have commercial use that are not included in the definitions of Classes 1 to 5 and 7 to 9. In other words, this class is used as a catch all for commercial properties and includes light industrial (such as show rooms), office, retail, and hospitality uses among others. As we settle into the new rhythms of 2021, it is important to note that appeals to your commercial property assessed values in British Columbia must be submitted to BC Assessment before.
