As property owners across Burnaby receive their 2024 assessment notices from BC Assessment this January, many will notice changes to their property’s assessed value compared with last year.
It is important to understand how assessments affect – and do not affect – the property tax bill you will receive later this year.
The 2024 assessed values of residential properties in Burnaby went up 2.78% on average. While the value of your property may have increased, that does not necessarily mean you will pay more in property taxes this year.
The most important factor in determining how much you will pay in property taxes is not how much your assessed value has changed, but how the assessed value has changed compared to similar properties in Burnaby.
For example, if the assessed value of your home in Burnaby increased by 1%, you may actually see an overall decrease in your property taxes, since your property increased by less than the 2.78% average assessment increase for residential property in Burnaby.
Or if the assessed value of your home went up by 2.78%, which is the same as the average increase for residential properties, the change to the City’s portion of your property tax bill will reflect only the annual budget increase, which this year will be 4.5%.
There are helpful resources online to learn more about property taxes and assessments.
Find more helpful explanation examples from BC Assessment or visit their website or watch the City’s helpful explainer video to learn more about how your property taxes are calculated each year.