PDF “As property tax is the product of assessment and tax rate, the higher assessments mean higher tax bills unless municipalities drop tax rates.”
I’m sure everyone in Nova Scotia is anxiously awaiting the new tax assessments for 2005. Apparently the South West Region slips are in the mail and if you care to go on-line you can check your new assessment at the Nova Scotia Government web site “Assessments Online ” NOTE: Disregard the the SIGN-IN, click on the PROPERTY SEARCH button.
Just have your AAN (Assessment Account Number) number ready, which you can find at the top right of your last assessment or tax bill.
The Chester assessments are going to be interesting. Many people thought their assessments jumped last year, well I have news for you, expect some surprises this year too. The Assessment Office says the assessments are up overall by 6.6% and the South SHore is up 8.7%. But the worst hit is Halifax with a 10% increase in assessments.
I have did some quick searches and found a few waterfront homes in the village up by 20%.
In an article written by David Jackson in todays Chronicle Herald, a Halifax Publication. “Rising Property Assessments May Hike Tax Bill” [It is a subscription only web site, so I will quote some of the article here.
"Total assessment in the province is up 6.6 per cent to $53 billion this year. On Monday, the Municipal Relations Department mailed more than 560,000 assessment notices to Nova Scotia property owners. The 32,000 people who applied for the new assessment cap on residential property will get their notices next month. That's only half the number of people who were eligible for the cap. The increased provincial assessment is a combination of growth and the market, said assessment services spokeswoman Debi Karrel, the acting director of operations. "It is provincewide and it's no surprise," she said. "It's not just metro and it's not just the South Shore."
"Halifax Regional Municipality experienced a 10 per cent increase in residential assessment, to $18.6 billion. The commercial side increased 4.8 per cent to $6.9 billion."
"The southern region - Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne and Yarmouth counties and the District of Clare - underwent an 8.7 per cent jump in residential assessment to $5.3 billion. Commercial assessment increased 5.9 per cent to $1.5 billion."
"As property tax is the product of assessment and tax rate, the higher assessments mean higher tax bills unless municipalities drop tax rates."
"In the area from West Hants to Digby, residential was up 4.2 per cent to $4.4 billion, and commercial increased 2.6 per cent to $1.47 billion."
"The northern region - East Hants to Amherst and Pictou County - got a 3.9 per cent bump in residential assessment to $5.3 billion, and commercial rose 2.9 per cent to $2 billion."
"The eastern region - Antigonish and Guysborough counties, and all of Cape Breton - saw a 4.2 per cent increase in residential assessment to $5.1 billion and a 3.3 per cent increase in commercial to $2.5 billion."
"In Cape Breton Regional Municipality, there was about a two per cent increase in both residential and commercial assessments, up slightly from recent years, Ms. Karrel said."
A PDF of the Chronicle article is available here.
Rising property assessments may hike tax bills.pdf
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